Bearing the Burden
by Fiery Crusader
Summary: Set after Red Throne, Finn's depression has forced him to take drastic measures. Four years later, he copes with his emotions by becoming a full-time hero. Ooo's Kingdoms have lived in harmony and crime is at an all-time low as a result. However, conflicts loom in the distance and the human is led into a journey of redemption, friendship, and love.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Adventure Time, except this story's concept and OC's.

**Chapter theme: **Shadow on the Sun by Audioslave

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The people of the Fire Kingdom cheered at Don John's and Flame King's failure to reclaim the throne. Thanks to the efforts of Cinnamon Bun and Flame Princess, peace was restored in the kingdom. The fire subjects were no longer brainwashed from Don John's magic, and as a bonus there were no casualties. Unfortunately, Finn felt distraught and proceeded to leave the Fire Kingdom shortly after the celebration. No one noticed his departure as he trudged his way back to the tree fort.

"I sure blew it this time," he muttered. "I could have made myself look better with FP if I just helped! Sure we're not close anymore, but at least helping her would have been a good start. Now I know I've lost my chances with her." Tears began to form in his eyes. "All I've done was act stupid during the mission. I couldn't be serious just for once when she needed me the most."

Finn tightened his fists and then paused for a second to take a few deep breaths. "What's done is done, there's nothing I can do to fix it. She has CB by her side now. The one who acted responsibly like the hero I should have been." He chuckled briefly, "It's kinda funny how I can handle a bunch of bad guys in a fight, yet I'm a total chump when it comes to…**love**. I never would have thought it could bring such happiness as much as pain. I almost wonder if I'm better off having an actual wound right now rather than having this dreadful heartache."

Finn finished the rest of his trip in silence. As he approached his house, he noticed there was still a huge opening from the side created from Jake 2. "I better start fixing the wall, I don't want Jake to wonder why there's a mess and then I have to explain everything that's happened today."

He wasted no time with his repairs and managed to complete the wall in an hour. Jake was still away spending time with Lady Rainicorn which meant he wouldn't return home for at least a few hours considering it was still early in the afternoon. Although Finn had plenty of time to spare, he decided to eat a quick sandwich from the kitchen and head for the shower straight after. Once he finished, he dressed himself with his usual outfit except for his bear hat. As he made his way to his bed, he rested himself on top of the sheets, lying on his back. Feeling exhausted from today's events both physically and mentally, Finn passed out into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Finn found himself groggily waking up. Although his body was physically rested, his emotional stress kept his subconscious restless. As a result, his head had a distinct numbing feeling. Nonetheless, Finn proceeded to head downstairs to the kitchen where he saw his canine brother cooking nothing other than bacon pancakes.

"Hey Finn good morning," Jake exclaimed. The two brothers hugged, patting each other's backs briefly before Jake resumed his cooking.

"It's nice to see you again, bro," Finn said then continued, "Did you have a great time with Lady and the others?"

Jake replied, "Yeah, I had a great time with them. When I got back, I noticed you were sleeping already. Everything alright?" He showed a look of concern.

"Yeah…I'm fine. I just got bored watching over the house for a long while, that's all," Finn lied while yawning.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you could have done something else to pass the time like play video games or go dungeon-crawling."

"No, not really I didn't feel up for it this time," Finn said dismissively.

Jake narrowed his eyes at him, "You sure nothing's up? You can tell me, Finn if there's something bothering you."

Finn looked down at the floor and finally said, "…Alright, it's a long story though. Can we eat first because it will spoil my appetite if I tell you now."

"Of course, we'll do that. Let's just worry about it later, ok," Jake said while placing his paw on his bro's shoulder.

The two ate their breakfast meals in silence. Neither of them said a word because they were both busy indulging themselves. Once they finished, they leaned back on their chairs, belching every now and then. "That was great, bro. I'm not sure if I can eat another bite," Finn complimented.

"Thanks, man. You know I make the best bacon pancakes," Jake said with a big smile.

"Definitely," Finn nodded.

Jake finished his drink then said, "So, now that we ate. Do you want to tell me what's on your mind?"

Finn knew he couldn't stall any longer, "Ok, Jake. It all started yesterday when I was sitting over there at the living room…"

After Finn told Jake his story, Jake comforted him with a hug. "There, there. Love is a learning process and it's not perfect. I've had my share of mistakes when I acted without thinking. Besides, don't you think CB's love for Flame Princess could be expressed in a family way instead of a romantic point of view?"

Finn considered briefly then replied, "No, I was too caught up in the moment. And even if that were to be the case, I don't believe I deserve to be with her. I've placed her life in danger too many times and have done nothing beneficial to help her retake the throne."

"Maybe so, but in the end everyone made it out and you at least made the effort to assist her. It's not like she ended her friendship with you or even banished you for that matter," Jake countered.

"You may have a point Jake, but I would be lying to myself if I just wanted to be her friend. I love her so much that I'm willing to defy nature ten times over. Aside from that, I don't think seeing her right now will make things better for me. I've humiliated myself enough already that it'll just be awkward."

"Well, Finn I wish I could offer more advice. The least I could tell you right now is that you go on ahead and do what you gotta do. Hopefully, when the time is right you'll find it within yourself to return to her and work things out."

"Thanks, Jake. I feel a little better having this talk. Just give me a few days to cope with my stress. I'll be ok, I promise."

"I'm glad to help. Remember, we're family, we stick together and we watch each other's backs, alright?" Finn cheered up and nodded in response. "Great, let's go ahead and clean up these dishes and then we could visit Candy Kingdom and see if Princess Bubblegum needs anything."

"Sounds good, Jake. Let's do that," Finn smiled.

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**AN:** Reviews are welcome!


	2. Four Years Later

Four years have passed since the Fire Kingdom incident. During those years, Finn decided to focus on improving his swordsman skills with Rattleballs on a daily basis. He also exercised regularly which included running and weightlifting. His mindset was clear, as Ooo's champion he needed to make sure he was combat ready in top, physical condition. Once he finished his rigorous training, Finn periodically patrolled all of Ooo's kingdoms except for the Fire Kingdom. He reasoned with himself that there was no need because its champion Cinnamon Bun had it covered. Other than that, Finn spent his spare time completing side quests for Bubblegum which usually involved collecting anything scientifically significant to helping out the general public.

There were a couple of notable events that took place within those four years. In the first year, the first highlight involved Simon temporarily reuniting with Marceline and Betty Grof after the wizard monster Bella Noche took away Ice King's powers. Unfortunately, after Bella Noche was defeated by Betty, Ice King's powers and influence returned the to the crown, therefore dominating Simon's mind once again. To this day, Betty continues her search for a cure to free her lover's mind from the dreaded Ice crown.

Another event that took place in the first year involved the people's welfare of the Lemongrab Kingdom. Possibly after a couple weeks, Lemonhope decided to repay his debts by freeing his people from his kingdom's totalitarian regime. By using his harp, Lemonhope was able to destroy Earl of Lemongrab and free Lemongrab 2 along with all the other people who were consumed from Earl. Although peace and happiness were restored in the kingdom, Lemonhope decided to pursue his own agenda of personal freedom instead of supervising his kingdom's restoration. He would never return to his kingdom again for many decades until he reached an elderly age.

Between the first two years, Finn kept himself preoccupied by dungeon crawling and hanging out with his friends. But as the days ended, Finn found himself restless in his thoughts regarding the Fire Kingdom incident. He knew that he couldn't just leave the dreaded memory behind unless he reached a proper closure with FP. He promised himself he would see her again one day and apologize for his actions. The problem was that he didn't feel like he was ready for confrontation, yet. Eventually, Finn was able to temporarily cope with his feelings by either training overnight or by going on jam sessions with Marceline.

On the third year, Finn was continuing his daily training to become a better protector for Ooo. He learned from his private studies that to be an ideal hero, one must humble themselves from their personal needs. As a result, he pledged that he would put his personal love life and interests on hold and focus more on ensuring Ooo's safety. His demonstration of self-sacrifice would ensure the people his commitment to protecting them at all costs. Although there were times when Finn felt like his services were taken for granted, he continued to work as Ooo's champion. He suspected that his duty as a protector would be unappreciated at times, yet he would continue to stay because he knew no one else would protect the weak and disadvantaged. As time passed by, Finn's demeanor became more reserved and serious. He would occasionally smile at everyone but would usually keep a stoic expression. Overall, Finn began acting more formal, while his goofy personality became less apparent.

Near the end of the third year, Jake mustered enough courage to finally propose to his girlfriend Lady Rainicorn. He knew marriage was a big step in relationships, but he decided to accept the responsibilities and challenges it had to offer. He also knew that he would be living with Lady and his family for most of his life. However, at the time, Finn encouraged him that he was old enough to look out for himself so Jake wouldn't feel worried. After Lady accepted the proposal, the wedding took place at the Candy Kingdom (and no one was arrested this time).

As the celebration commenced, Finn approached his brother and gave him a hug. "Hey, congrats Jake! You finally did it!"

"Yeah, thanks. I sure did! I'm going to miss you though," Jake's smile slightly faltered.

"It's alright Jake, I've been able to handle myself for a while now so it's no big deal. Besides, we can always call each other and visit each other down the road."

"You're right, Finn. I suppose we could do that," Jake cheered up again. The two hugged and patted each other's backs one more time. Then Finn broke the hug and spoke in a dramatic heroic voice, "Now, go home and be a family man!"

"Haha, I got the reference. I will Finn. Take care of yourself," Jake said as he went back to Rainicorn's side. Overall, the wedding party was spectacular and there were no accidents caused by LSP.

On the fourth year, Finn found himself standing on one of the tallest rooftops overlooking the city of the Candy Kingdom. Being at 19 years of age, Finn was approximately standing 5'11" weighing about 170 pounds. His physical build was lean and muscular. His muscles weren't excessively bulky, but his overall appearance suggested he wasn't someone that could be trifled with so easily. His attire consisted of a dark navy hooded cloak complete with a grey balaclava that covers his face from the nose down. Underneath his cloak, he wore the same short sleeved, sky blue shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. He also wore two black pairs of ballistic paddings to cover his elbows along with his knees. Lastly, Finn wore the same kind of shoes and backpack except for his bear hat. He thought to himself it just made him look silly now that he was older. As a result, Finn decided to leave it inside his back pack for safe keeping.

As Finn overlooked the evening streets of the Candy Kingdom, he closed his eyes for a brief moment, reflecting on his past. He wondered at times what his future would have been like if he never made the decisions that lead to his separation with Flame Princess. But then again, he supposed that it was for the best, knowing that her responsibilities as a monarch would keep her busy. Because of her leadership, Finn knew that the Candy Kingdom would not have to worry about the Fire Kingdom being a threat. However, relations between the two kingdoms currently remained uncertain. Flame Princess distrusted Bubblegum's motives for her obsession with science. Nonetheless, the kingdoms maintained an open line of communications.

Suddenly, Finn was pulled out of his thoughts when he received a distress call from his phone. He answered quickly, "Yes, Bubblegum... Alright I'm on my way. Over and out." Finn placed his phone back into his pocket and glanced at the horizon one more time. Then, he donned his hood and mask and dashed towards the Candy Kingdom palace.


	3. Another Chance

Finn arrived at the palace to discover that there was a trail of frozen banana guards in his way. He looked down in disappointment and let out a deep sigh, "Dang it, Ice King."

Suddenly, he heard a few more guards shouting at Ice King in the throne room. As Finn arrived at the scene, he noticed the crazy wizard was surrounded by 10 banana guards while an irate Bubblegum was taking cover in a corner.

"Give up, Ice King! We have you surrounded!" a guard shouted. Seconds later, the Ice King effortlessly used his magic and froze all the remaining guards. He looked over at PB and said, "Well, now that they're taken care of. I have you all to myself." Before he could make his way towards PB, he felt a sharp blow to his head knocking him out cold.

PB smiled at her hero in relief, "Thanks for saving me again, Finn. I almost thought for a moment you weren't going to make it."

"No problem, Bubblegum. Although I must admit, Ice King's kidnappings are getting old real fast," Finn said as he withdrew his baton.

"That makes two of us. I have got to find a way of improving security around here. As a matter of fact, I think I'll go to the lab and see if I can engineer better guards."

Finn frowned, "Maybe you should get some rest first, PB. It's already late and you just went through a lot of stress from another attack."

She groaned in reluctance and said, "Very well, I probably wouldn't be productive with my work anyway since I can't think straight."

"Before you go, do you need any help with the cleanup," Finn asked sincerely.

Bubblegum smiled at the courteous gesture but shook her head, "You've already done enough, Finn. Peppermint Butler and the others will handle everything."

"As you wish, goodnight your majesty." Finn bowed to her and made his way to the exit. PB watched him leave with concern on her face. "He certainly has changed," she thought to herself.

The next day, Finn traveled over to the Breakfast Kingdom. He thought it would be neat to treat himself for eating at a place that specialized in breakfasts. He went over to the local buffet and viewed his choices. The restaurant included everything from pancakes, breakfast burgers, burritos, skillets, omelets, hash browns, beef hash, and much more. After making his selections, he proceeded to eat his food fast in record time. His early morning training and exertion to travel a long distance to the kingdom made it possible for him to have a huge appetite.

Finn then waited nearly half an hour for his food to digest until he got to the counter to pay the bill. The clerk was surprised that he pulled out a large gold bag containing 300 pieces. "This is too much, Finn! Let me give you the proper change." the clerk said.

Finn shook his head and insisted, "Keep it, consider it a generous tip for your services and food."

"Thank you, Finn. We are most pleased to have you as our best customer."

Finn wandered around the kingdom's Central Park greeting the locals. Then, he decided to sit down on one of the park benches surrounding a water fountain. He enjoyed the serene sounds of the birds chirping until someone approached him.

"Mind if I join you?" Breakfast Princess asked sweetly.

"Not at all, Princess." Finn scooted over so she would have room. He then asked, "So, you came here all by yourself?"

"Of course not, I have my royal escort overlooking the park. I just simply told them to give me space so I could talk to you."

Finn chuckled, "I see, I bet I would have assumed you were here to arrest me if your guards were closer by."

Breakfast Princess laughed, "What?! That's crazy! Like I would ever arrest you for protecting my kingdom countless times. Yeah, that makes sense." The two laughed for a while until Finn asked, "So, what do you wish to discuss?"

"Well... I've been thinking, since there hasn't been any serious trouble lately. Don't you ever feel like settling down and hanging out with anyone after a while? Don't you ever feel tired of being alone?"

Finn thought for a moment until he said, "Nope, I don't have time to worry about personal relationships. This job that I've committed myself to will only make things more complicated."

BP was saddened a little and hung her head in silence.

Feeling awkward, Finn checked his phone for the time, "I, uh have to go soon. My break's almost over and I need to finish my patrol with the other kingdoms."

After a while, she asked softly, "Is it also because you still care about Flame Princess?"

Finn froze in his tracks as she asked such a question. His mind was bottled with stress on the matter that he knew he had release it. Finally, he resigned and said, "I do, BP. Very much. But I know I've lost my chances with her after being so foolish from all those years. It's very hard for me moving on but I've placed my love life aside so I could focus on being a full-fledged protector."

"Finn, you've managed to maintain peace in Ooo for the past four years. You have sacrificed so much to achieve a better future for all of our kingdoms. We are all in your debt and we cannot repay you enough. But, don't you think you should give yourself a try and just see her? Even though things didn't work out then, at the very least you could try talking to her," she suggested.

He sighed in acceptance, "I know, I've told myself countless times I would try but I would never feel like I'm ready to do so."

BP shook her head, "You can't expect everything to be perfect all in one go. Besides, life is short. If you keep on waiting, it may be too late. And then, before you know it, you'll be tormented with regret for the rest of your life. Trust me, Finn. I've witnessed some couples experience similar pains in the long run that I don't want you to suffer the same fate."

"I appreciate your concern, Princess. Maybe I'll just do that. I think I have waited too long to..." Suddenly, his phone rang. "Yes, this is Finn...Alright I'll check it out." Finn put away his phone and began to don his hood and mask.

"Who was that," BP asked.

Finn answered, "It was Bubblegum. She told me there was another disturbance at one of the kingdoms."

"Which one?"

Finn stood up with a hardened expression, "The Fire Kingdom."


	4. Red Castle Down

**AN: **Following chapter title is a subtle reference to a movie. Anyway, enjoy!

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"This is it," Finn thought. "This is my chance to make a better impression with the Fire Kingdom, especially Flame Princess." He ran past the Breakfast Kingdom gates and into the outskirts. After a short while, he pulled out a spell book from his backpack and summoned a portal to teleport to the Fire Kingdom. "Why didn't I use this to go to the Breakfast Kingdom earlier? Oh yeah, that's right; you just wanted to get a work out so you can have a big appetite for brunch. Besides where's the fun in that," Finn told himself.

After he stepped through the portal, he found himself on the outskirts of the Fire Kingdom. As Finn approached the main gate entrance to the kingdom, Flambo quickly spotted the human and began running towards him with a sense of urgency. "Finn, we's need your help! The Kingdom's gone into a full blown war zone!"

"I'll see what I can do." Finn was about to leave until Flambo stopped him, "Wait! Yous need a flame shield first, remember?"

"Alright, thanks." After the spell encased Finn's body, he made his way to one of the rooftops and surveyed the city. What he saw was unsettling. Homes and business buildings were set ablaze as civilians were scrambling to evacuate. There were also several bandits raiding the market places stealing all the treasures they can carry. As Finn continued his observation, he noticed the fire elemental guards were fighting each other. "This must be some kind of civil war," Finn thought.

"Protect the King at all costs!" a fire captain shouted. He and approximately 80 elite soldiers were assembled at a barricade to the main palace. The line of defense included a balance of archers and knights along with three catapults. Unfortunately, reinforcements would arrive late because they were intercepted from one of the rebel's advance. It would take at least 10 minutes until the main military force could reach them. Meanwhile, the loyalists would have to stand their ground until then as hundreds of rebels charged towards them with vigor. The defenders launched their catapults continuously in an effort to thin out their numbers. But, the rebels kept on advancing.

"This is it, men! Archers, at the ready! Aim...OPEN FIRE!" The archers fired a volley of arrows slaying numerous enemies as a result. There was still a substantial amount of enemies left as they kept getting closer. Noticing this, the captain shouted, "Prepare for close quarters combat!" The archers immediately lined up behind the knights and waited for the inevitable clash...

Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. Finally, the two forces collided with each other and blood started splattering from both sides. "Hold the line!" the captain ordered. It was a difficult task to repel the advance, but the loyalists eventually prevailed. After 5 minutes, the rebels began to retreat. The loyalists began to cheer in celebration except for the leader. "They were just testing our defenses! The real attack's about to start!" he shouted.

The retreating rebels regrouped with rest of the main force preparing for another strike. "Is everything ready?" Flame King asked.

"Yes, my lord. Our saboteurs have the charges set. We're waiting on your go." a rebel soldier responded. Flame King looked over to Don John and said, "We have given these cowards and traitors false hope long enough."

Don John nodded, "Indeed, let's finish this." FK looked over to the rebel and ordered, "Do it."

Suddenly, three explosions erupted from the loyalist barricade. Although a dozen men were wounded, the real casualty was that all the catapults were destroyed. One of the explosions also knocked the defending captain unconscious. It felt like the he was out for a few hours when in reality it was for 1 minute. As he opened his eyes, he noticed one of his men shouting at him soundlessly. After a few moments the officer regained his hearing.

"Cap! You ok, Cap?!" the grunt shouted.

"Incoming," another loyalist shouted. The commanding officer immediately sprang to his feet after hearing another explosion. He looked straight at the enemy force that shot arrows and fireballs in his direction. Most of his comrades were on the ground either wounded or dead. The barricade only had less than 20 troops left. Then, the officer looked over to the remaining archers and shouted, "Keep shooting! Keep shooting! We're going to take out as many of them as we can. Fight to your last breath!"

The archers and knights continued their defense until Flame King and Don John joined the assault. "Oh, crud! They have backup," a loyalist cried. "Get down, this is going to get bad!"

It was too late. The remaining defenders were wiped out from another blast. The only one who survived the blast was the leader, but unfortunately he sustained critical injuries across his chest and abdomen. He watched helplessly as the rebels began to make their way past him towards the palace.

Flame King and Don John made their way inside the palace throne room, where Flame Princess and Cinnamon Bun took defensive stances. Both pairs stared at each other fiercely.

The former monarch spoke up first, "Well, daughter. It looks like your pathetic guards weren't enough to stop us. I'll give you two choices: 1) you will surrender the crown to me and marry Don John or 2) you will die."

"I will never surrender, Father. I have lived most of my life without any control over it for far too long!" Flame Princess said defiantly.

Her father took a few moments to process her answer until he shrugged and finally said, "So be it." Then, the duel commenced. Flame King faced Flame Princess, while Don John faced CB. The rebels surrounded all of them except they were merely instructed to watch the outcome of the fight.

Meanwhile, Finn was running out of time. During the chaos he rescued a small group of civilians from being executed by the rebels. In addition, he assisted the loyalist's reinforcements to arrive quicker at the kingdom's palace. They arrived at the gates but waited for the rest of the men to regroup.

"Alright, men listen up!" a fire major shouted to the company. "We have a small renegade army led by the former Flame King and Don John. We also have reports that they have already breached the palace and are possibly engaging our beloved ruler and guardian. Our mission is simple, eliminate all hostiles and save the VIP's. Any questions?" No one answered. "Good, let's take our capital back!"

Flame Princess and her father were evenly matched. Neither of them were faltering anytime soon. CB however was fighting on the defensive against Don John, losing more ground over time. Suddenly, Don exploited an opening CB left and knocked him into unconsciousness.

Flame Princess looked over and shouted, "CB!" She then intensified her flames and set her eyes back towards her father.

"Give up, daughter. You are all alone now. No one will save you," Flame King said with a smug smile. FP took a few breaths to compose herself and finally answered, "I would rather die a free woman than live again in captivity!" Before her father could retort, distant sounds of fighting echoed throughout the palace.

"What's going on?" Don asked.

Suddenly a rebel knight approached the throne room and addressed FK, "My lord, the loyalist's reinforcements have retaken most of the castle and are on their way right this instant!"

"How long will it take?" the former king asked. Before the rebel could answer, the doors to the throne room were burst open from an explosion.


	5. Settling Matters

Moments after the doors were breached, the loyalists began rushing inside the throne room. The remaining rebels were easily overwhelmed from their numbers and were swiftly dealt with. During the confusion, Don John conjured a flame sword and made his way to a still unconscious Cinnamon Bun. "This is my chance. I will wipe this wretched pastry from existence and then I will end this coup by helping Flame King," he thought to himself.

Suddenly, he noticed a blue hooded figure standing in front of CB wielding a silver broadsword with a red hue reflecting from the blade. "Who are you," Don demanded.

The figure replied, "Your worst nightmare. I will offer you only one chance to surrender before I use lethal force."

Don laughed in response, "You, threatening me?! I must say you had me going! There's no way I'm going to listen to some random punk who thinks he's all scary! Besides, I ain't going back that darn glass prison!" With that, Don lunged towards him with a roar.

Finn watched as Don dashed at him. Everything began to move in slow motion as Finn readied his stance for the ultimate sword technique, the Shadow Thrust. "Remember, calm your mind and breathe in slow," Finn thought to himself. He waited a few more moments for Don to get closer and then performed the deadly move.

Don noticed that he ran past Finn and missed his strike. Before DJ could turn around and continue his charge, he stopped. Suddenly, his blade dematerialized and he felt his life fading away fast. He clutched his stomach where the fatal incision was, fell to his knees, and then fell down forward facedown.

The duel between Flame Princess and her father stopped momentarily as they watched in shock at Don's demise. "Whoever this guy is, he's a force to be reckoned with," FP said.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted when the figure addressed everyone, "This duel shall determine the one who is fit to rule this kingdom. According to the code of laws, the king can be challenged from a member of the royal family regardless of status or by a warrior that is deemed worthy. The duel is to be fought, uninterrupted and unaided."

Everyone was surprised this mysterious stranger knew about their kingdom's customs, but they adhered to the laws nonetheless. Finn then looked over to Flame Princess and said, "I believe in you, your highness. You have managed to proven yourself once and I'm sure you'll be able to do it again." Afterward, he backed away with the loyalists, giving the two royalties room to fight.

"Who is he?" Flame Princess wondered.

Flame King spat on the floor before talking to FP, "Well, here we are again. King to king, father to daughter. I don't believe you're gonna win this time." FP showed a fierce look of determination and shook her head. Her father continued, "No, I don't believe you got it in you, daughter. So, here's what I'll do: I'm gonna get that crown and then I'm gonna get my throne back. And you ain't gonna do a darn thing, cause you're too weak to beat me now are you?"

FP replied, "I'm not going to let everything I have accomplished for this beloved kingdom be wasted from the likes of you. Now, prepare yourself!"

The fight started with both adversaries drawing their flame swords. Then, they both ran at each other exchanging blows, neither of them faltering. Embers and flares parted from the blades as they clashed. After a while, Flame King decided to use his blade with a series of smashes in an effort to overwhelm his daughter with brute strength. Fortunately, FP was agile enough to dodge the attacks and managed to score a couple of slashes to his side.

Flame King laughed, "At this rate, it's gonna take you a million hits to inflict any real damage. I, on the other hand need only a few." Right after he said that, he managed to grab onto FP's hand holding the sword and followed up with a knee strike to her abdomen. FP's sword disappeared as she fell to the floor clutching her stomach. Then, Flame King punted her several feet into the air towards one of the tables in the throne room. He smiled at his own handiwork, "Like the rest of your people, you are weak and pathetic. To be strong, one must be evil and ruthless. That is how I achieved my right to rule these lands."

FP was grunting in pain as she struggled to get up, "...You've done ...nothing but used deceit ...and treachery to claim your power. Unlike you, I ...have rightfully challenged you to earn it ...and have used my power to guide our people towards a better future."

"But now, your pitiful future ends here. And when I retake my throne, my first order of business is to see to it that your pastry companion is roasted alive into ashes, nice and slow," Flame King said sadistically.

From that moment, FP's flames instantly increased in brightness and heat. "NOOOOO! YOU MONSTER!" She yelled in defiance, one that made Finn and the others feel unnerving. FP charged at her father with renewed strength and fought on the offensive. Flame King tried to stop her with his heavy swings but to no avail. As he missed, Flame Princess struck his bronze armor harder with each strike until it began to crack.

Finally, Flame King was fatigued enough that he dropped his guard. Noticing the armor was vulnerable, FP charged her energy and shot a powerful stream of flames towards her father. He flew across the room and crashed through the wall leading to one of the ballrooms. She cautiously approached the rubble and saw her father was wounded in defeat.

"You...(cough-cough)...have bested me again, daughter. Now...(cough)...put an end to my wretched life and...(cough)...seize your victory," Flame King said with sinister smile.

FP thought for a long moment, she wanted to do what her father wanted so she can get her satisfaction. She readied her flame sword, but hesitated. For some reason, no matter how much she was infuriated with him she just couldn't bring herself to do the unspeakable.

Ultimately, she dissipated her sword and said to him bitterly, "No, this fight has been decided already. You have lost and you WILL answer for all the crimes you have done today. GUARDS, take him away and get him out of my sight!" With that she walked away and headed straight for her chambers.

Finn was surprised at the outcome of the fight. He knew Flame King was evil, but he never expected that FP's father would stoop so far to kill his own without remorse. Just before Finn could follow FP, CB regained consciousness. Finn made his way towards him and asked, "Cinnamon Bun, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'll live. I just have a couple cuts and scorch marks and this awful headache." CB narrowed his eyes and continued, "I haven't seen you before, may I ask who you are?"

"In due time, sir. Let's just say I am someone who shares the same interests of ensuring the well-being of this kingdom. For now, we need to get you patched up. Medic!"

Seconds later, a medic approached them and saluted, "Sir?"

"I need you to see to it that her majesty's knight gets treated immediately," Finn ordered.

"Yes sir!" Moments later a stretcher was being transferred. Before CB was taken away, Finn told him, "Major Hartsock or one of his subordinates should be able to tell you everything that's happened during your state of unconsciousness. Until then, I'll see you later." CB nodded and Finn left the throne room.

Finn thought for a moment if he should meet up with FP but then decided against it. He figured that after she withstood all the emotional pain, she would need her space to recover. For now, he decided to wait and use his time to contact Bubblegum on his phone about the news.

"Hey Bubblegum, this is Finn. I'm informing you right now that the situation in the Fire Kingdom has been secured. The coup was successfully prevented but it has been costly however."

Bubblegum breathed a sigh of relief and answered, "Good work, Finn. I'm sorry to hear that. I'll start making preparations to send in resources for the relief effort. Hopefully, this will make relations between our kingdoms easier."

Finn nodded, "I'm sure she will appreciate your generosity, the last thing we all need is another war on our hands. Anyway, I'm going to start helping these people now. Give me a call only if there's another emergency along the way."

"I will, Finn. Take care," PB hung up.

Hours passed and it was approximately 7:45 in the evening. Finn spent his time helping the locals by distributing food and magma. He thought about assisting the reconstruction project, but was turned down when the authorities insisted that the lava golems would handle it. As Finn finished his volunteering, he made his way to the local medical center to visit CB.

"Hey, you made it my friend," CB said.

"Yeah, nice to see you too," Finn replied. He grabbed a chair and sat next to CB's bed and then continued, "Have they brought you back up to speed with everything?"

CB answered, "Yes, they told me about your role in the fight. Thanks for saving my life. But I still don't know your name."

Finn looked down for a moment and then made eye contact with him and said, "My name is Finn the Human, peacekeeper of Ooo's Kingdoms."

CB was shocked, "Finn?! It can't be. I haven't seen you since-"

"Since the first time Flame King broke out of prison and you needed my help," Finn interrupted.

"Why do you have your face covered," CB asked.

Finn inhaled deeply and replied, "I use it to keep my identity a secret so I could make less enemies. If I do all my heroic duties as 'Finn' then I'll gather too much unwanted attention on myself. I don't want to spend every moment watching my back in that case. But the real truth is because I thought I would be shunned upon ever since my mistakes from the first coup."

CB shook his head, "Finn, you were never forbidden to visit the kingdom. Otherwise, Flame Princess or myself would have made that clear with you."

"(sigh) Figures, but still. I just couldn't bring myself to come here and see her back then, not unless it was an emergency. I'm sorry."

"I understand, Finn. However, it would have been a whole different story if your actions lead us to failure in retaking the kingdom. But it didn't!"

"Alright, CB. I'll get over it. The funny thing is, I was planning on coming here today anyway in hopes to reach closure."

CB leaned up closer to Finn, "Can I tell you something?" Finn nodded. "You've saved my life and more importantly you've saved this kingdom. I'm sure you've redeemed yourself well enough. In fact, how about I help you arrange a meeting with her. She has been wondering about you occasionally during your absence."

Finn blushed a little, "Really? W-well I don't want to do all this just as a means to get back together with her."

CB chuckled a little, "All I'm doing is making sure if Flame Princess will talk to you. I'll appeal for your case and then it all depends on how you two will go about. Either way, I'm sure she would be curious to see you."

Finn sighed, "Alright, when do you suppose we can meet?"

One half hour later, Finn checked CB out of the medical center with a wheelchair. They made their way to the palace which was still undergoing repairs. Since the royal guards knew about CB's rank and Finn's role from earlier, they granted them access without any hassle. The two made their way to the last hallway that led to Flame Princess's chambers. There were 20 guards stationed, each half lining up on both sides of the hallway. When the guards noticed them, they saluted to CB and stepped aside from the door way.

"Wait here, Finn," CB instructed. He knocked on the door a couple times, "Your majesty, it's me. May I speak with you?"

An uneasy silence lingered for a brief moment until she replied, "You may enter, CB."

He nodded and looked to Finn, "I'll be right back." After that, the pastry guardian walked inside and closed the door behind him. He found the fiery ruler sitting near her vanity dresser where she was cleaning her face with a dampened cloth.

She saw her friend in the reflection and faced him with joy, "Hey, you're back!"

He chuckled, "Yup, I'm still in one piece. How about you?"

FP nodded, "I'm holdin' up. My stomach's still sore from earlier, but it's nothing that a little alchemy can fix."

"I'm glad to hear that. You should take it easy these next couple of days."

She shook her head, "I'll try, but there's a lot of work to be done starting tomorrow. I need to secure my place in the throne by making active appearances with my people. More anarchists will try to overthrow me if they see me weak like this."

"You're not weak, Flame Princess," CB countered. "You've shown everyone from the duel that you are worthy to lead all of us. No one will try to challenge you especially since their leaders are taken down."

She hummed, "Which reminds me, who was that guy that took out Don a while ago? I was too busy recovering from my wounds that I never gave myself time to thank him."

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said hesitantly.

"CB, I know you're always honest with me. I doubt you'll have anything to gain if you lie otherwise," she reassured.

"Alright then," the guardian cleared his throat. "The one who helped us back there was... Finn the Human."

The fire elemental expressed complete shock at that moment. Her mind swirled from mixed feelings upon hearing the name that she thought she would never hear again. She felt overjoyed at first, then sorrow and doubt from their last encounter. The most dominant feeling she felt for the human however was anxiety. She hasn't seen him for nearly half a decade, and she found herself curious to see what he looked like.

"He's changed for the better, your majesty," CB said breaking her thoughts. "We've talked to each other for a while and he did a great job helping us out."

FP asked almost in a whisper, "Is he here?"

CB nodded, "He is in fact waiting at your door to see if he can talk to you. But if you don't feel like doing so right now, then I'm sure we can set up another time for the meeting. He'll understand."

Her heart was beating fast as he told her. She thought about passing the opportunity at first, but was afraid she would never have another chance to meet with the long lost human. She took a deep breath and said, "Send him in."

Finally, CB walked out of the room and said, "Alright, Finn. She's ready to speak with you. For your sake, please don't mess this up." Finn nodded and watched as CB left. Then he shifted his gaze towards the door and waited several moments before he turned the knob and entered.


	6. Mending Hearts

**Chapter theme: **Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

* * *

Finn was tense, he constantly relayed everything he needed to say but was at loss for words. From that moment, he gritted his teeth as he made his way inside FP's room. He closed the door behind him and looked around. Flame Princess was nowhere in sight. Finn frowned for a moment but slowly walked further into the room. Finally, he saw a certain fire elemental standing at the balcony overlooking the city. She was hunched over with her head facing down, both of her hands resting on the rail. Finn noticed she was still wearing her royal armor but left her crown on top of the dresser. He cautiously made his way closer to her until they were 10 feet apart. Her back was still turned and no words were said.

After a while, Flame Princess decided to stand up straight. She still had her back to him but finally said, "It's been a long time, hasn't it Finn?"

"...Yeah," he said dryly.

FP closed her eyes as she heard his voice for the first time. She couldn't believe how mature he sounded. Then she opened her eyes and continued, "I haven't seen you in 4 years. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I've been around and about, devoting my life protecting Ooo's kingdoms," he said awkwardly.

FP had a solemn look on her face, "Why haven't you visited?"

Finn hesitated, "...I felt ashamed of myself... After I messed up from our last encounter, I didn't feel like I deserved to come until I was ready to apologize."

She was slightly shocked but controlled herself and turned to face him, "Finn, that's all in the past. And I want you to know that it wasn't entirely your fault. We were both young and things were different."

His eyes watered and looked away, "No, I don't believe that! I almost got you killed because I was obsessed with myself trying to impress you."

She shook her head, "Regardless, the kingdom was saved, you tried to help, and everyone was okay. Besides, I haven't been doing so well lately," her voice began to crack.

"How so?"

FP continued, "I've come to realize that my policy of complete honesty has been bringing my kingdom more harm than good. Every now and then, I would get tons of reports about couples separating and workers losing their jobs. I have even witnessed such experiences first hand! It's probably no big surprise why I had a rebellion in the first place. And for what, being completely honest? I created that law just so I could make sure you could never lie to me again. But what good was that? Instead, I took everything over the top and made my people suffer for it." She started sobbing.

Finn removed his hood and mask and said with conviction, "I should be the one responsible. If I never tricked you into fighting Ice King, you wouldn't be feeling like this right now."

She wiped her eyes, "You're wrong, Finn. My people have lived better lives when I came into power. However, I should have considered that privacy was something to be valued. If I had known that my policy would have wrought this kind of chaos, I would have revoked it sooner."

He considered that and said, "Perhaps, I guess both of us have made an oversight with our decisions." FP was sniffling a little and kept quiet. Finn continued, "What's done is done. All we can do now is move on and make the most of it. Right now, I'm here for you as a friend." He reached out a hand in comfort.

Flame Princess looked back up to him and replied, "No, I don't want to settle for being friends."

Finn looked down and slowly withdrew his hand, "I understand, I'm okay with being just mutual allies then."

She shook her head, walked closer and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please let me finish... I'm willing to give us another chance, Finn... I am in so much pain that I really need you right now."

Finn was taken aback from FP's offer. He couldn't believe it, "Are you absolutely sure? I don't want to make you regret it otherwise."

"We're both older and know better to make our own decisions. I trust you. You've proven yourself well enough that I know you're responsible. And I've been thinking for a long time about saying this but... I love you, Finn with all my heart."

He thought for a long moment until he finally said, "...I love you too, Flame Princess." And with that, the two embraced never wanting to let go.

After the heartfelt reunion, the couple sat near the balcony, talking to each other about the little things. Finn would tell FP his past experiences about dungeon crawling and she would laugh occasionally. Suddenly, Finn stood up and asked her, "Do you want to see something?" Intrigued, she nodded. Finn continued, "Alright, just don't freak out."

A couple minutes later, Finn's flame shield began to fade away. Noticing this, FP began to panic but was calmed when he raised a hand to stop her. She anxiously waited until it vanished completely. Since most of Finn's clothing was blue, the main indication that the shield was gone was observing his face. Then, FP got up and lightly felt his cheek with one hand. No burning reactions were present. She shifted her gaze to his eyes where she found herself entranced to bring her face closer to his. Feeling a similar pull, Finn followed suit and gently cupped both her cheeks and the two closed their eyes sharing a long, passionate kiss.

Afterward, Finn broke the kiss and regained his breath, "That was algebraic!" Then he looked around quickly in realization, "Wait, your elemental matrix!"

She looked around as well only to discover they were still in the same spot. She thought momentarily and concluded, "I never felt the same again after I drank that poisoned tea from way back. I think it might have stabilized it somehow."

"Oh, that's cool I guess."

FP nodded then hugged her boyfriend murmuring, "I missed you."

"Me too, my lady. But, it's getting late," he said as he was getting ready to leave.

"Finn, wait! Could you please stay with me for tonight?"

Finn blushed intensely and rubbed the back of his neck, "Uhhh, I don't know... I don't want to rush things, Flame."

She quickly amended, "That's okay. It's just sleep, nothing more, I promise."

"...Hmm, alright. Let's get washed up before we get to bed. You go ahead first."

After they washed themselves, the couple made their way towards the King-sized bed. Finn was wearing a clean blue t-shirt with dark blue shorts, while Flame Princess was wearing a white conservative nightgown. The two made themselves comfortable as they relaxed on one of the softest mattresses with the finest sheets in existence. Finn laid flat on his back while Flame laid on her side, embracing him. She nuzzled his neck for a brief moment, "Thanks for doing this, Finn. It means the world to me."

He smiled warmly and replied, "I'll do anything for you, Flame. I love you, always." They shared one last kiss and then drifted to sleep.


	7. Catching Up

The next morning, Finn woke from his long slumber. He felt a bit disoriented when he noticed he was not at his bedroom in the tree fort. Then it occurred to him, he stayed at Flame Princess's room last night. He looked around, observing the red, extravagant furniture that decorated the room. Finally, he looked over to his left side where his girlfriend was still resting on his chest.

Finn smiled to himself as he watched her sleep peacefully. She was lightly snoring which he thought made her look adorable. He watched as the tips of her long, fiery hair gently danced in the air. He slowly brushed her hair with his right hand, feeling its unique, silky texture for the first time.

Flame Princess stirred in her sleep and woke up moments later. She slowly opened her eyes feeling well rested from yesterday. She found herself being caressed by her boyfriend and smiled. Then, she leaned up and faced him. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long while until they finally closed the gap between their lips.

Both of them were enjoying the sensations they've dreaded for so long. Their lips parted as they deepened each other's kiss. Finn's heart was racing as he pulled FP closer. A few minutes later, they broke for air and recomposed themselves.

The two remained silent for a brief moment until Finn asked, "Did you sleep well, Flame?"

"More than you can ever imagine, my King," she said blissfully. Just after she said that, she blushed in embarrassment. She spoke frantically, "Finn, what I meant was...I mean we just-"

He gently placed a finger on her lips and comforted her soothingly, "Shhh, no need to explain, my love. You're the only one I keep dear to my heart. I would be more than happy to call you my queen someday." He drew his hand away.

Her eyes sparkled, "Truly?"

"Yes, we may have started over but let's take our time to reestablish our footing," Finn suggested.

"I could do that. As long as we spend more time with each other, that's fine by me," she smiled contently.

Finn nodded, "Of course, Flame. Even with both of our duties at hand, I will personally make the effort to spend time with you often. Our relationship is very important and I do not plan on making the same mistakes like I've done before."

She caressed his cheek with one hand, "I have faith in you. Like I said before, we're both older and we know better now." Finn smiled at her and then she continued, "By the way, what time is it?"

He pointed in the air with his right hand and said, "It's aaadventure time!" She giggled then smacked his chest. Finn rubbed himself surprised by FP's strength, "Ok seriously, it's only 6:30 in the morning. We have plenty of time to ourselves for now. I have to admit, FP that actually hurt me a little heheh."

FP rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Please, you're just being bashful. I know you've faced tougher bad guys, but now your telling me that you can't handle your own girlfriend?"

Finn smiled sheepishly, "Y-yeah! Dealing with bad dudes is one thing, but I'm a complete wimp when it comes to you. Besides, I meant what I said, you have truly become stronger when we last met."

She looked away while pointing her thumb at him, "This guy haha!" Then she turned back and continued, "So, what have you done these last 4 years?"

He took a deep breath and started, "Well, besides from what I've told you last night, I've been training with Rattleballs mastering my sword technique. I also went through a daily exercise routine to be at my physical peak. After all, a hero must be well prepared for any emergency. It took me three years to finally master the Shadow Thrust. One that proved to be one of my greatest challenges to beat. The key to utilizing the technique is to balance your heart, mind, and soul. I was obviously conflicted with my emotions from our last encounter that I failed miserably each try."

"That's terrible!"

Finn continued, "For a long time, I followed a temporary solution by practicing the basics, exercising overnight, and attending jam sessions with Marceline. Eventually, I managed to let go of my personal stress and focus on being a full-time protector for Ooo's kingdoms. I gave up my personal life and interests in order to rid myself from the pain. But, I never forgot about you though. I promised myself one day that I would visit you to make amends. I just didn't feel ready at the time because I thought you would still be mad at me."

She frowned, "I wasn't mad at you, I was merely disappointed that you weren't serious when you tried to help."

He nodded, "Hmm, but I had a feeling if I showed up sooner it would have seemed like another desperate effort to get back together. I wanted to make sure I acted responsibly for my age when I returned."

"I see."

"CB might have put in a good word for me, but it seemed a bit convenient given yesterday's events. I just want to reiterate that my intentions were to visit you in order reach a civil agreement. I don't want you to feel like I'm taking advantage of the circumstances whatsoever. If you believe that I am, I will back off at a moment's notice," Finn stated.

"No, I don't believe you are. I appreciate your honesty, but I have been struggling with myself even before this happened. For the past four years, I have been constantly ruling my kingdom. It hasn't been fun since I regained the throne and I wondered at times if you would ever come."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "Don't be. I probably should have made the initiative and at least called. We could have spent a few minutes from our time and become better friends. I was just unsure of myself to do so."

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess so. Anyway, after I overcame my struggle, I traveled to one of the darkest dungeons deep within the Night-O-sphere."

FP was shocked, "What?! That's insane! What were you doing there?"

He shrugged, "I heard rumors that some of the best weapons and treasures were stashed there. Given its location, many people were obviously discouraged to visit. That didn't stop me however. After overpowering the guards, the traps, and the decoys, I claimed my fortune. From that dungeon, I have obtained a variety of new swords including the one I used from yesterday. Each sword has their own unique properties and special abilities. The one I just used has the ability to easily slice through heavy armor and withstand extreme heat. You can submerge this thing in lava and it would still have the blade intact."

"Incredible!"

"It gets even better, FP. Not only did I find such powerful weapons, but I discovered a special crystal that grants immunity to a specific element. I'm sure you already know which one I have. Anyway, you just have to touch it once and then your DNA would change accordingly. Unfortunately, it only limits one immunity per person and I couldn't bring it with me because it was permanently fixed on the wall. On top of that, the dungeon closed itself off for good when I left."

"That's a shame, but at least now we can finally touch," she said with a smile.

"True," he gave her a quick kiss. Then he checked his phone, "As much as I want to continue this chat and snuggle, I'm afraid we're gonna have to get ready for today's work."

FP pouted, "Really, can't we just forget it all and let it blow away?"

Finn was already up changing into his outfit from yesterday. "Nope, our duties come first, my lady," he replied with a smile.

"(sigh) Alright, just give me a moment." She got up and twirled so she changed back into her armor.

After they changed, they made their way to the exit. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything else later. For now let's handle our responsibilities together. After you," Finn motioned as he held the door open for her.


	8. Politics

A large, public gathering took place at the main courtyard of the Fire Kingdom. They chatted as they were anxiously waiting for Flame Princess to make a public announcement. Suddenly, everyone hushed as they noticed Flame Princess walk up to the podium on the stage.

She tapped the microphone a couple times before speaking, "My loyal subjects, we are gathered here today to commemorate those who have given their lives for the good of our beloved kingdom. They are to be acknowledged for answering above and beyond the call of duty in preserving our way of life."

Flame Princess looked over to one of her generals who was holding a case full of medals. The elemental nodded and stepped over to her side. When he got close, he opened the case for FP to distribute the medals.

She resumed her speech, "I hereby award the Distinguished Flame Cross, the highest honor the Fire Kingdom can bestow to the following: Finn the Human, Cinnamon Bun, and Major Hartsock." After she listed the names, she turned around and pinned the medals to each person's chest. FP then returned to the podium, "Let it be known to this day, that these brave men fought to protect the kingdom in the face of adversity... And let us not forget those who have lost their lives from battle."

FP signaled the guards to pull the curtain off the structure behind her and continued, "This large, obsidian tombstone behind me is dedicated to Captain Darius and the 80 troops who valiantly fought against the enemy in front of our kingdom's capital... Let us now take a moment of silence to honor our fallen."

Everyone solemnly bowed their heads in silence. After 5 minutes, FP looked up and concluded, "Our hearts and prayers go to those who have lost their friends and families. Let us never forget their noble sacrifice."

The procession ended moments later as 21 alchemists shot quick streams of fire into the air 3 times. Then, the crowd continued to pay their respects leaving flowers at the memorial.

Finn, FP, and CB made their way towards the palace throne room. They still needed to address political matters regarding the welfare of the kingdom. Once they assembled, the monarch took her seat at the throne while her companions stood beside her on both sides. Moments later, a messenger stepped forward and kneeled before his king.

"You may rise, fellow citizen," Flame Princess said.

The messenger rose up responding, "My liege, the last remnants of resistance have been dealt with. Flame King has been successfully transferred to the Vulcan maximum security prison by your orders."

The monarch nodded in approval, "Do we have any leads about the cause of this rebellion?"

He replied, "Given our recent reports, we know that he and Don John were freed from private mercenaries. Although, how they managed to contact them remains to be known. We have also interrogated the remaining rebels to determine their motives and they have explained that it was because of their distaste with your policy of total honesty."

"I see, I have realized the flaws in my decree recently and I hereby revoke it. Now, what is the status of our kingdom's condition?"

"The fire golems have managed to restore 70% of our local homes and workplaces. At this rate, we should be able to finish by the end of the week. Unfortunately, the rebellion has destroyed a substantial portion of our food resources that we may get a steady 20% decline rate in the population."

She frowned in response, "How long do we have?"

"We have until 2 weeks before the food shortages make a significant impact. At the moment, we are distributing rations to delay the issue. But, we need to establish trade with the neighboring kingdoms or else our people will die of starvation or be forced to relocate."

Flame Princess looked down as she tried to process the situation. Suddenly, Finn spoke up, "Your majesty, my I offer a suggestion?"

"Go on."

Finn continued, "I have spoken with Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom and she has offered her assistance with the relief effort."

She breathed deeply, "It seems I have no other choice. I must set aside my personal differences with her and accept her aid. I cannot afford to lose more people while I have an opportunity to save them." She looked at her messenger, "Go forth and inform Princess Bubblegum that I am willing to discuss terms with her."

"Yes, your excellency." He bowed and then left the throne room.

Flame Princess turned over to Finn, "You sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes, as champion of Ooo's kingdoms I vouch for Princess Bubblegum on her behalf. I understand your uncertainty with her, but all she wants is peace. I can assure you that her ambitions for science are being kept in check. Besides, if you manage to reach an agreement, then you will also make it easier for your people to open more trade routes with the other kingdoms."

She nodded, "Alright, Finn. But just so you know, if I find out that she does anything I deem suspicious, I will not hesitate to take action against her."

Finn bowed, "I understand, your majesty."

A few hours later, Princess Bubblegum and Peppermint Butler arrived at the Fire Kingdom palace. They were escorted with 10 elite banana guards as they made their way to the council room. Once they entered, Flame Princess and her companions greeted them. After the formalities, the monarchs engaged in a lengthy discussion for an agreement.

A couple hours later, the two monarchs signed a treaty and then shook hands. Princess Bubblegum was the first to speak, "Thank you, Flame King (FP). Let us now usher a new era of peace and prosperity between our kingdoms."

"Likewise," Flame Princess said as she showed a strained smile.

Bubblegum and her escort departed the room moments later. After 3 days, the Candy Kingdom began sending food and supplies to the Fire Kingdom. Bubblegum already made most of the preparations ahead of time to deploy resources in quick succession. She was anticipating that Finn would successfully persuade Flame Princess to accept her offer so that war would not distract her from her pursuit of science. She smiled to herself as she spent more time at her personal lab.

Meanwhile, Finn and Flame Princess worked together to govern the Fire Kingdom. FP handled the politics with her people, while Finn acted as her bodyguard. The day was finally coming to a close as they began to leave the throne room.

Flame Princess stretched her back a little, "Phew, what a day. The lengths I go through for my people."

Finn also stretched himself and replied, "It's a natural burden for a ruler, but at least you have me beside you this time." He smiled as he touched her shoulder with one hand.

She returned her smile, "Yes, Finn. With you here, I don't feel as weary like I used to be those past years."

"I'm glad I could help," he said sincerely.

FP nodded, "Come on, let's hang out at my room so you can tell me more about your past stories."

He shrugged, "Sure, ok. I'm right behind you."

The two made their way back to Flame Princess's chambers. Once they arrived, Finn went to the bathroom to change into a clean blue shirt and shorts while discarding his cloak and mask. He also removed his elbow and knee pads. FP on the other hand changed her armor and settled for a simple red-orange dress. After they changed, they went to the living room and sat on the couch together.

"Comfy?" Flame Princess asked.

"Yeah, I'm used to sitting on Marceline's solid couch that I feel like I'll fall asleep right now," Finn yawned.

She pouted, "Aw come on, I want to hear more about your experiences. You promised me, remember?"

"I'll do my best, Flame." He paused for a moment, "Alright, let's see here... Ok, there was actually one time Ice King lost his powers and became Simon for a short while."

"Who's Simon?"

"He's like Marceline's father figure, a human like myself. The thing about him is that he's been around for at least 1000 years since the aftermath of the Mushroom War. He has been able to live longer than the average human because of that crown he currently wears." He frowned then continued, "Although the crown granted him immortality, he lost his mind and became the Ice King we all know today."

FP nodded and kept quiet.

Finn continued his story, "Anyway, this magical monster named Bella Noche took away IK's powers and Simon returned back to normal. However, without his powers, he began to age rapidly until death. He created a time portal to the past so he could apologize to his lover Betty Grof for losing her. But at the last second, she jumped through the portal into our time to show her love for him. When she noticed his accelerated aging, she was determined to restore Simon's powers."

"But... If she does that, then-"

"Betty knew that he would change back into his alter-ego. So after she defeated Bella Noche, she left to travel alone in hopes to find a way to free Simon from the crown. I felt heartbroken when I heard about it because it reminded me of us, about my determination to defy nature for you." Finn's eyes watered.

"Oh, Finn..." Flame Princess hugged to comfort him.

He wiped his tears away, "...It's ok, Flame. I was just a little shaken up. Anyway, I tried to help her obtain a solution but we still haven't found one yet. I'm really hoping we could find one soon because I'm already fed up with IK's tendency to kidnap princesses. But most importantly, I want to find a solution for her so she can share the same happiness we do now."

"I admire that, Finn. I believe you'll find the answer someday."

"Thanks, FP." The two smiled and shared a kiss.

They spent a couple more hours as Finn told her more about his experiences such as being a military instructor for the Lemongrab Kingdom. He explained to her that he trained its people after Lemonhope decided to live on his own freedom rather than be their protector. Then he told her about his canine brother Jake marrying Lady Rainicorn and that Finn became used to living alone.

"And then after that, I went through some daily patrols throughout the Ooo's kingdom's and eventually ended up here," Finn concluded.

"Geez, Finn. You sure went through a lot those last 4 years. I wish I could offer a story just as exciting, but sadly all I've done was govern my kingdom." FP showed a sad smile.

"It's interesting, Flame. I remember long ago when I used to think I had nothing more to lose after our last encounter..." He placed his hand on her face while brushing her cheek with his thumb, "But now, I have everything to live for."

Flame Princess giggled and blushed intensely, "Oh, Finn. You sure have a way with words." They kissed a couple times before breathing for air.

"Alright, let's go to sleep. Even though this couch is comfy, there's not much room to move around." Finn yawned.

They both got up and made their way to the bed. Finn laid on his back, while FP was curled up to his left side, resting her head on his chest.

Finn smirked, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

FP looked up at him, "Definitely, I've been to able to sleep better now that you're here. Don't tell me YOU'RE not enjoying it!" She pointed at his face for emphasis with a mock scowl.

He chuckled, "I would be the worst liar in history if I didn't. I love you, Flame."

She rolled her eyes, "Love you too, 'hero.' Goodnight." They gave each other one more kiss before sleep took over.


	9. Winter's Last Howl pt 1

Finn and Flame Princess were sleeping peacefully. During the night, Finn shifted to his right side, while his girlfriend was embracing him in the same direction. Both of them were snoring loudly as they rested from yesterday's work.

Suddenly, Finn jolted awake when his phone rang. FP woke up too except she was slower and rubbed her eyes.

"This better be important," Finn said bitterly. He answered his phone, "Yes?!"

"Finn, this is Betty. I think I might have found something to finally bring Simon back! But, I need your help. Meet me over at Wizard city as soon as you can."

"Ok, wait a sec-" Finn couldn't finish because she hung up right away. He cursed under his breath before getting up to change. Flame Princess leaned up and looked at him with a look of concern.

"Finn, are you alright? What's going on?" She asked worriedly.

"Betty called. She told me that she may have found a lead about bringing Simon back," Finn said as he equipped his elbow and knee pads.

FP brightened up, "Hey, that's great, Finn! Now you don't have to worry about Ice King kidnapping princesses anymore."

He frowned, "Yeah, I guess. I just wish it was any other time besides now. I really don't want to go since it's still early." Then he blushed slightly, "Besides, I want to stay here being nice and cozy with you."

She held up her hand, "Nu-ah-ah! Like you said before, 'our duties come first', remember?"

He turned away, "Dang it! How did we switch roles?" Then he took a deep breath, "Oh, alright. It'll save me the headache in the end, I suppose. See you later." Finn gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

FP propped herself on her right elbow with her hand holding her head, while she bent her other elbow with her hand resting on her hip. "I'll be waiting for you, Finny," she said seductively with half-lidded eyes.

Finn turned around and shook his head scowling, "Quit teasing me, Flame. It's already difficult for me to leave as it is."

She giggled in response as he quickly left the bedroom.

Finn exited the Fire Kingdom palace as he made his way towards the outskirts. Once he reached the open grounds, he pulled out his spell book and summoned a teleportation portal to Wizard City. "Thank Glob for fast travel," Finn said to himself as he stepped through the portal.

Moments after he stepped through, Betty was waiting for him nearby. She was wearing a dark cloak that covered her green sweater and blue jeans underneath. "You've finally made it," she said.

"Yeah. Anyway, what did you find?"

She straightened her glasses, "I have come to realize that the Grand Master Wizard may have the answer we've been looking for all this time."

"What makes you so sure?" Finn frowned.

"Well, I figured that he since he conjures powerful magic, he might be more than capable to revert the Ice King back into Simon."

He scratched his chin, "Now that you mention it, why didn't we think of that?"

"I'm sure you are aware, but the reason we didn't choose that possibility was because he and his people don't take kindly to non magic users, especially humans. If anything, this is a last resort to bring Simon back once and for all," Betty replied.

"So you're telling me that we're going on a leap of faith to infiltrate Wizard City without knowing whether or not the answer lies ahead?"

She gave a sharp nod with an unyielding expression.

Finn sighed, "Very well. I guess we have no other choice. Getting inside won't be easy, not to mention that we're confronting the Grand Master Wizard himself."

They rode on Betty's magical carpet as they came closer to the city gates. Once they arrived, they hid near a rocky ledge overlooking the entrance. Several minutes passed until a large gathering of wizards assembled near the giant doorway. Finn tapped Betty's shoulder, "Now's our chance, we'll blend in with the crowd so we can get inside."

The two seamlessly intermingled with the group as the doors opened to the city. "Remember don't draw any attention," Finn advised. They continued to follow them until Finn noticed the palace. "Over there."

Betty nodded and the two made their way inside. As they entered, they noticed the Grand Master Wizard watering his personal garden while holding a kitten.

The magical ruler quickly noticed them and said, "Go away! I'm very busy right now!"

Betty desperately pleaded, "Please, Grand Master Wizard. It's very urgent that I speak with you."

"Oh, and who dares question my authority?" The ruler bellowed.

She pulled her hood down, "Me."

He recoiled in shock, "Y-you again?! What are you doing here?"

She calmly replied, "I need your help, Grand Master. My name is Betty Grof, Simon's fiancée whom you mostly know as the Ice King. I've spent the last four years finding a way to free Simon's mind from the crown but to no avail. I was wondering if you have any knowledge or sources to reverse Ice King's transformation."

He stroked his long beard, "Normally, I don't tolerate your kind in my city, but I will make an exception. Since you've saved my kingdom from Bella Noche, I'm willing to help you just this once. Besides, Ice King has been an annoyance to my people anyway."

She brightened, "Thank you, Grand Master. What must I do to save Simon?"

"Consider this a debt repaid. Now, the first thing you'll need to do is bring him to me. Most importantly, I need to examine his crown to know what I'm dealing with."

The three devised a plan to lure Ice King into the palace. Their strategy was to invite him into thinking there was a party at the palace. Minutes later, the crazy ice wizard bolted through the entrance with excitement. Before he realized there was no party, he was knocked out by Finn's baton (again).

"Good work, just give me a moment to look at this crown," GM instructed. After a brief inspection, he spawned a large spell book. He flipped the pages until he finally found something helpful, "Ok, there's only one way to reverse the crown's effects. Be aware though once we start, there's no going back."

Betty and Finn nodded.

GM continued, "I will cast a spell to open a direct link to the crown. You two will be physically drawn into its realm to face the evil entity. If you succeed, you will return to the physical world and Simon would live a normal life without aging fast. However, if you fail, you will be assimilated into the crown's influence and be casted into oblivion. Are you two ready?"

Finn gave Betty a double-bladed sword, "Take it, the sword's special abilities is that it generates heat. The blades are channeled through your passion so the stronger it is, the hotter they become."

"Thanks, Finn but what about you?" Betty asked.

He pulled out his silver reddish sword that he used from the Fire Kingdom rebellion, "Already covered."

They nodded at each other and then at the Grand Master. Moments later, the wizard conjured the spell and the two were sucked into the ice crown.

It was going to be the most chilling experience of their lives.


	10. Winter's Last Howl pt 2

Finn and Betty screamed as they were pulled into the Ice King's crown. After a few minutes, they finally arrived at the crown's ice realm. They were disoriented as they landed on the ground face first. Fortunately, their impact from the fall was cushioned by a large blanket of snow. When they got up, Finn dusted himself and observed his surroundings.

The crown's realm did not have much to offer. All he could find were some icy mountains and vast open plains of snow. It didn't help much that there was a constant blizzard limiting his vision. On top of that, the realm's time of day was permanently fixed on night.

Betty observed her surroundings and said, "Well, this place is definitely a snowy wasteland."

"Wasteland?! How about a snowy wonderland!" The humanoid entity said as he twirled around with his arms spread wide.

Finn and Betty immediately turned to face him at the sound of his voice. He was an imposing figure standing 7 feet tall wearing knight's armor. The color scheme was mostly dark purple with gold outlines. His skin was light blue, while his face had similar features which made him resemble the Ice King. They drew their weapons and got into combat stances. The entity paid no mind to it and acted indifferently, "So, it looks like you're here to free that pathetic friend of yours, am I right?"

They kept their stances in place as he paced back and forth. Then he stopped and said, "Well, it seems you've wasted your time. Simon is under my control and there's nothing YOU can do about it." He smirked at them.

"Why do you continue to torment him? Because of you, I've lost my fiancé twice!" Betty lashed out.

"Simon does not need anyone. I have given him powers that could help him rule the world! In fact, he could even usher a new Ice Age on this lousy planet." The entity shook his fist.

"You do not speak for him! I've spent too much time apart from Simon long enough! If you're not going to let him go quietly, then prepare to fight." Betty readied her double-bladed sword.

The vile entity narrowed his eyes and spoke menacingly, "You two mortals aren't worth my time." He summoned 20 ice warriors that surrounded the heroes. "My minions shall dispose of you and then I can rule in peace." He snapped his fingers then flew towards the mountains.

"Well that's just great. Typical villain sends in bad guys to do all the dirty work," Finn said sarcastically.

Betty frowned, "Are we doing this or what?"

Finn lifted an eyebrow, "A woman of action, eh? Alright, let's do this."

The duo expertly dispatched all the ice warriors in 5 minutes. After the skirmish, Finn withdrew his sword and began to put down his backpack. He shuffled through his belongings until he managed to find two special belts. He tossed one over to Betty, "Here take this, this is a thermal belt that will keep you insulated from extreme temperatures. From the looks of things, that entity fled to the far mountains hoping we would freeze to death if we followed him."

"Thanks Finn." Betty caught the belt and began fastening it under her cloak.

"Come on, let's hurry before he decides to send in more backup. Glob knows what else could be lurking out in this realm." Finn motioned over to her.

The trip to the mountains took at least half an hour. Luckily, the only resistance they encountered so far were just a couple of ice warriors. When they arrived, Betty noticed an icy fortress in the distance.

"Over there!" She pointed.

They went inside the fortress to discover it was deserted. They were shocked as they expected to encounter heavy resistance. Instead, there were no guards or any signs of life. The only thing they could hear was the howling blizzard outside.

Finn whispered to Betty, "Keep your eyes open."

She nodded in response.

The two cautiously searched each area of the complex starting from the entrance, the study hall, the kitchen, the dining room, and all the personal chambers. Finally, the last area they needed to search was the rooftop. Once there, they noticed the entity observing his domain with his hands and back toward them.

He stared aimlessly at the vast plains until he said, "You are to be commended for making it this far." Then he faced them and continued, "You two have managed to endure this freezing environment, something I did not think was possible. No matter, once I'm done, you two can join your lost friend into oblivion!" He materialized a sky blue double-bladed sword in his hands.

Finn and Betty drew their swords once again to face the humanoid. Then, they dashed towards him and clashed their blades. Sparks flew as they blocked each other's attacks. As the fight progressed, the blizzard intensified. Eventually, the entity stumbled backwards a little as Finn kicked him in the stomach. The humanoid brushed himself as he showed a look of frustration, "I will not go down easily!" He faced Betty, "Let's even the odds, shall we?"

Moments later, 3 ice warriors appeared near Finn and started attacking him. Finn was able to defeat them, but the villain kept on sending another set continuously. "You call this even," Finn yelled whilst fighting.

The entity shrugged, "Oh well, I was never really good at math." Feeling satisfied, the ice being twirled his sword, "It's just you and me now, Betty. Let's settle this for good."

"The only thing standing in my way for my chance at happiness is you!" She charged at him. Their blades clashed again, neither of them faltering.

After a while, Finn began to lose his endurance and got slashed a few times. The incisions were mostly superficial, but he cried out in pain. "Argh, their ice weaponry is so cold it burns me!" He thought to himself. Finn was accustomed to coping with hot temperatures before he became fire proof, but the problem was that he was dealing with freeze burns.

"Finn!" Betty cried out.

He made a dismissive gesture and said, "I'm fine... Just beat that menace."

She nodded and continued her duel. Moments later, she and her opponent slammed their swords into a power exchange. She started to falter as the humanoid towered over her.

"Your strength betrays you. Just give up and join your lover in peace," he said sadistically.

"I will NEVER give up!" With that, she summoned more willpower to channel into the blade. As a result, she began to gain the upper hand, "My love for Simon is unwavering. I've spent four years finding a way to bring him back. And now that I know I'm close, my determination far exceeds your mere desire for power!"

Betty continued to lean forward more as her rival was gradually losing ground. Once he leaned back far enough, Betty shoved his sword away and split it in two. The entity was astonished as he only had one blade left at his disposal. Then, Betty pushed on the offensive and sent a flurry of slashes. Her opponent began to struggle and eventually dropped his guard. Finally, Betty defeated him by severing his forearm wielding the sword. He was completely speechless as he stared dumbfounded at his wound.

The ice entity clutched his severed arm and then fell to his knees. Then, Betty readied her blade one more time and delivered a quick swipe across his neck, decapitating him. From that moment, the ice warriors fighting Finn disappeared. Seconds later, the two heroes found themselves being pulled back away from the crown's realm into the physical world.

"I can't believe it! You actually did it," Grand Master Wizard exclaimed. "Now the last thing we need to do is put this crown back on Simon's head to reverse the effects."

"Alright, let's hope this works," Betty said wearily. They went over to a still unconscious Ice King and placed the crown on his head. The effects were almost instantaneous and Simon became normal again.

"W-wha-what happened?" Simon asked as he rubbed his head.

"Simon, you're finally back!" Betty launched herself at him kissing him repeatedly. Then she gave him some room.

"How am I not aging rapidly?" Simon asked worriedly.

"Finn and I warped inside the crown's realm with Grand Master's help and defeated the evil influence. When that happened, he said that you would be able to live a natural life."

Simon brightened his smile, "That's wonderful!" They embraced and kissed each other again.

The Grand Master was emotional and then cleared his throat at the newly reunited couple, "You know, I don't think all humans are bad. I've never seen anyone go through great lengths to be with someone they care about for a long time. So, I've decided to welcome you three as respectable guests."

Betty turned and faced him, "Thank you, Grand Master."

Finn asked, "Does this also mean we could bring our friends here too?"

GM answered, "Of course, as long as they respect the laws and say wizards rule."

"No problem, you guys definitely rule." Finn smiled as he held a thumbs up.


	11. Harmony

A couple weeks have passed since Simon returned to normal. During that time, he and his fiancée Betty scheduled their wedding day to be held in one month at the Ice Kingdom. The kingdoms of Ooo were overjoyed to hear such news. They were glad that Ice King's kidnappings have ceased indefinitely and were even happier that he proposed to Betty. The wedding preparations were underway and all Simon had to do was wait. He also spent time with his vampire friend Marceline who was also overjoyed to see him again. She would often tell him stories about her personal life as he worked in his personal lab.

Meanwhile, Finn introduced Flame Princess to Betty and the two quickly became best friends. Betty was intrigued meeting the fire elemental and learned more about the Fire Kingdom. Flame Princess on the other hand, learned more about the humans and Betty's past life during the Mushroom War. They continued to learn more about each other's cultures and traditions as they would talk on the phone for hours. They even spent some of their time together going to several marketplaces Ooo could offer. Normally, the two would usually go window shopping, much to Finn and Simon's dismay. In one instance, they had Finn and Simon accompany them to help carry some merchandise. Instead, they found themselves waiting for hours with grouchy expressions.

Finn was sitting down beside Simon, bowing with his hands together. A few moments later, he leaned up, threw his hands up and said, "THIS is ridiculous!"

Although his tone was in a mocking playful matter, FP scowled at him, crossing her arms, "Keep whining like that, and we'll never leave." Then, she dropped her scowl and smiled sweetly, "Besides, we still have another market to cover."

Finn leaned back and groaned, "Uuugh, why FP? Just why?!" From that moment, he wished to himself that there was a crime alert on his phone. Sadly, fate would not allow it.

FP giggled, "I'm just kidding my love. I think we've all been out long enough. Thank you SO much for being a 'wonderful' gentleman by the way."

"Nooo problem!" Finn smiled back and gave her a mock salute. She rolled her eyes as Betty walked up to her side.

"Alright, I'm done!" Betty smiled as she held out two large bags in each hand.

Simon was wide eyed as he saw her, "Goodness gracious! What in the world did you get?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just some shoes and dresses," she replied casually.

"Don't you already have those? You practically have the castle flooded with them! And on top of that, you haven't even worn them since!" Simon pulled his hair with both hands.

Betty shook her head smiling, "Nope! It's my money and if I see something good, then I just HAVE to have it! You could always stay back at the castle if you want. I know you like to be in the lab all day."

He walked up to her and gently stroked her cheek with one hand, "Not this time, Betty. Our time together is special no matter what. I'm with you every step of the way."

She blushed, "Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm sorry for taking so long. I'll take it easy with the shopping next time." They both kissed briefly until Finn cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt but it's getting late," Finn said while holding FP with one arm.

"Yeah, you're right. We have to get ready with the wedding soon. It's only a matter of time until we start sending invites to everyone. Good night!" Then she looked at Simon, "Let's go."

He nodded in response and then he and Betty rode on their magic carpet. They waved their goodbyes one last time as they flew towards the Ice Kingdom.

"Ready, Flame?" Finn asked as he held her close.

She nodded, "Let's go home, Finn."

They left the marketplace and walked towards the open plains. Finn pulled out his spell book and summoned a portal to the outskirts of the Fire Kingdom. Once they passed, they made their way towards the palace.

Finn smirked, "What do you think? I found this teleportation spell book from a random dungeon in one of my travels. It only works if we travel city to city though, but we can still cover ground fast."

"That's cool, but don't you think you might miss something if you do that? What if there's something interesting on the way?"

He made a dismissive gesture, "Pssh, please. I've traveled the land a thousand times before and a thousand times again. There's nothing else in this world that I could possibly want."

FP looked at him, "How so?"

He smiled warmly and whispered, "Because I already have you."

She blushed, "When did you learn to be so great at romance?"

Finn shrugged, "Well, I try. I guess you could learn a couple things in four years. Seeing couples come and go has given me an idea to say the right things." He rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "That, and the fact I've watched romantic comedies."

FP giggled.

They made it back to the palace and proceeded to their chambers. As usual, Cinnamon Bun and the guards saluted them as they walked by. Once Finn and FP went inside, they washed up, changed into light clothing, and headed for bed.

Flame Princess yawned and stretched a little before laying down.

"Are you ok, Flame?" Finn asked sincerely.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just all that shopping made me sore. I'll manage."

Finn thought for a moment until he decided, "Here, lie on your front. I'll give you a massage."

She was shocked, "Really? Finn, it's ok. You don't have to do that!"

He shook his head, "Nope, my mind is made up. Don't worry, I won't over step my boundaries. I promise."

"(sigh) Alright, go ahead." FP did as she was told.

Finn sat on the bed next to her and readied himself, "I'm going to start with your shoulders and then I'll make my way down to your lower back. Is that ok?"

"Mm-hm."

Moments later, Flame Princess was in a state of bliss. She relaxed tremendously as Finn tenderly squeezed her shoulders with his strong hands. He gradually made his way to her lower back, being sure to loosen her tense muscles. While he was enjoying feeling FP in his hands, he constantly reminded himself to respect their relationship.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when FP moaned in relaxation. "Is that better, Flame," he asked softly.

"...(sigh) Yeah, just.. a little more to the left (sigh)."

Finn moved his hands and concentrated on that area for a while. After a few minutes, he moved back up to her shoulders one last time before finishing.

"That should do it," Finn thought to himself. He admired his handiwork when he noticed FP was snoring lightly. "Glob, she's beautiful." He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Good night, love." Then, he carefully laid on his side with his back facing her.

Unbeknownst to Finn, Flame Princess showed a faint smile.


	12. Glacier Wedding

Today was the big day for Simon Petrikov and his fiancée Betty Grof to finally marry! It had been a month since Finn and Betty defeated the ice crown's evil entity. Since then, Betty and Simon made preparations for the wedding. They also had their friends assist them with the arrangements: Finn would act as Simon's best man and as the head of the security detail, Flame Princess would help Betty choose her wedding dress and be her maid of honor, Jake and his family would cater the banquet, Marceline would be the lead singer for the music entertainment, and Gunter and all the other penguins would handle the wedding decor and furniture.

The ceremony was scheduled to take place in noon at the Ice Kingdom's palace. Hundreds of thousands participated in the wedding. Because all of the seats were sold out, the special occasion was broadcasted on every television and radio in Ooo.

There was only one hour left before the big event would start. Simon was dressed in a black tuxedo with his ice crown. He was nervously pacing back and forth in his personal chambers. "I can't believe it! I'm getting married! Oh, what if I'm not ready," he anxiously asked himself.

Finn was with him trying to comfort, "Alright, just calm down. You and Betty made plans to prepare for a month, remember?"

Simon was still pacing, "Yes, yes I know. I didn't feel like it bothered me back then. But now, all of a sudden I've lost my confidence!"

Finn took a deep breath, "Simon, do you love Betty?"

"Of course I do, with all my heart!"

"Then that is all you need to be strong. Know this Simon, do not think about what you should do from just here...," Finn pointed at his own head. Then he motioned his hand to his heart, "...but here."

Simon nodded, "You're right, Finn. For many years, I have dreaded to be with my lost love. I'll start toughening up."

"That's the spirit! Just make sure you do so before one hour."

After hearing that, Simon passed out on the floor while Finn face palmed himself.

Meanwhile, Betty and Flame Princess were experiencing a similar situation. Betty was dressed in a traditional white dress, while FP was wearing a formal burgundy dress.

Betty looked at herself in the mirror and began doubting herself, "I know we've waited a long time for this, but I feel afraid."

Flame Princess placed a hand on Betty's shoulder, "It's a natural feeling. I know this because of all the weddings that took place when I was imprisoned in a glass lantern. But I'll tell you this, you never gave up on Simon when he was insane. You told me that you spent every single day relentlessly finding a solution for him. And now that you're finally together, you're going to let something as small as anxiety take over?"

Betty nodded and showed a look of determination, "You're right, I went through all the trouble with Finn to defeat the ice entity just to be with Simon. I would never forgive myself if I backed out now and let it go to waste."

"Think of it this way, you two already love each other. Just think of this whole event like it's making your relationship official on paper. Except well, there's a large crowd to see it," Flame Princess giggled at the end.

Betty rolled her eyes, "Gee, thanks for reminding me. But seriously, thanks."

"No problem, Betty. I'll see you soon at the alter." FP left Betty's room.

The hour had passed, Simon recovered from his anxiety and waited at the alter. Finn was standing beside him making final checks with his phone to ensure there were no disturbances. Luckily, Lumpy Space Princess was tackled by a large group of penguins before she even had the chance to crash the wedding. Flame Princess was also standing nearby opposite to Finn and Simon. When Finn noticed FP, he was immediately entranced by her beauty. He stared at her from head to toe, observing her curvaceous figure.

His thoughts were suddenly broken when his phone beeped. Luckily, Flame Princess was oblivious as she continuously stared at the entrance. He blushed at first then answered it quickly, "Report."

"Lumpy Space Princess has been taken into custody and all sectors are clear. You are good to go," a security guard said.

Finn holstered his phone and gave the pianist the signal to start the wedding. Moments later, the music, "Here Comes the Bride" played throughout the palace. Everyone shifted their gaze at the doors where the bride would enter. Simon almost thought for a brief moment that she would back out, but was proven wrong seconds later.

Betty strolled her way down the aisle towards the alter. The groom had a wide grin on his face. He couldn't believe this was truly happening. His soon to be wife also shared the same feeling by showing a coy smile.

The bride finally arrived at the alter and the priest began the ceremony, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bond these two in holy matrimony..."

Several minutes later, the priest was finishing the vows, "Do you, Simon Petrikov take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health?"

"I do," Simon nodded.

The priest looked over to Betty, "And do you, Betty Grof take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband in sickness and in health?"

"I do," Betty nodded.

Moments later, the bride and groom exchanged rings and the priest concluded, "Then by the power invested in me, I hereby pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Simon and Betty kissed as the audience applauded. Tons of cameras flashed to capture the newly weds sharing their passionate moment. Then, everyone made their way towards the ballroom. Before anyone could celebrate, Simon motioned everyone to wait, "Bring out the the ice marble." Seconds later, a few penguins delivered a tall block of ice.

Betty was curious and asked, "What's that for?"

Her husband smiled and replied, "You'll see. Stand back everyone!" He cracked his knuckles and framed the block with his hands. Then, he threw both of his arms forward and shot an icy bolt of lightning at the object. The ice marble was struck successfully and as a result, an exact sculpture of Betty was formed.

"Oh, Simon it's beautiful!" Betty hugged him with tears of joy. Then she realized something, "Wait a minute, how do you still have your powers?"

"Well, the Grand Master Wizard said the ice crown's corrupted influence was gone. But he didn't say anything about the powers itself being taken. Besides, I wanted to surprise you," Simon said sheepishly at the last part.

"I'm most certainly surprised, thank you so much Simon." Betty hugged him tighter.

"You're welcome, beloved. Now, let's get this party started!" Simon signaled over to Marceline and she and her band played the song, "September" by Earth, Wind &amp; Fire. Everyone went into frenzy and partied on the dance floor. Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd as the newly weds danced together.

After a while, people started to settle down. Some went back home, while others took a break and ate food. Finn left the dance floor and checked on his brother Jake.

"Hey brother, thanks for providing the food for the wedding," Finn said as he hugged him.

"Ah, don't sweat it man. You know me, when it comes to food, I make sure everyone has tons of choices to choose from, especially myself haha." Jake returned the hug. Ever since the canine married, he and his family ran a catering service for most of Ooo's kingdoms. He made sure his family was personally involved since they were affiliated with Simon and Betty through Finn.

As the two broke their hug Finn asked, "So, how's things with the family?"

"Oh, you know. Nothing unusual. Lady and I are great and so are the kids. I must say though, they are growing up pretty fast," Jake said as he showed a sad smile.

"I'm sure it's natural to feel like that. I have done some reading about how families would typically feel about their children."

"Heheh, yeah well let me tell you something. It's one thing to know about it and another to actually experience it. Know what I mean?" Jake countered.

Finn nodded, "Of course, Jake. I can't expect to be fully prepared from life's problems by reading books. But at least I would get a general idea of what to expect rather than be naive about it."

Jake scratched his chin, "That is true. Anyway, how are you and FP doing? You two seem to be having a great time lately."

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh, fantastic. I'm just taking a breather for the moment. She certainly has the energy to dance for a long time. Who knew? Anyway, I'm just going to head outside real quick and get some air."

"Ok, Finn. You be careful out there." Jake waved at him as he left the ballroom. The canine looked back at the food table with an indecisive gaze, "Let's see what I'm feelin', cheeseburger or pizza? Oh, I know I'll pick the burrito!"

Finn made his way outside of the main palace and took a seat on one of the park benches. He looked over at the setting sun across the horizon. As he sat there, he began to reflect on his personal life about how he got to where he was today. Suddenly, he heard someone approach him. He looked over to find it was no one other than his fiery girlfriend, "Hey Flame, how are you?"

"I'm well, Finn. But why are you by yourself?" Flame Princess showed a look of concern as she joined him.

"I'm just resting for a little while. I'll be back soon," Finn said dismissively.

FP insisted and caressed his cheek, "Please Finn, talk to me. What's on your mind?"

He sighed, "I'm just thinking about us, Flame. We used to be apart from each other in the past, burdened by our own personal biz. But now that we're together, I'm just worried that I would mess up again somehow."

She shook her head, "Finn, no relationship is perfect. Everyone including ourselves are bound to make mistakes. The important thing, however is how we react when we do them. Do we choose to cry and mope about them or do we choose to learn from them?"

"You're right. I just don't want to lose you again."

"I understand. Remember, this relationship is a team effort. We will be tested, but we must never give up on each other. I don't want you to feel that you have to be alone to do this. I love you and it's both our jobs handle these responsibilities **together**." She smiled tenderly as she drew her hand away.

Finn smiled back, "Thanks Flame. I guess I shouldn't trouble myself too much. After all, I know better now." Both of them kissed briefly then Finn continued, "Can I ask you something?"

She nuzzled his neck, "Of course, Finn. Go ahead."

He took a deep breath, "I know we're closer than ever before, but are you sure you want to take our relation to the next level in the future?"

She met his gaze, "Yes Finn. I have never been so sure in my life. You are the one who brought me peace and comfort. You are the one who brought a smile to my face when I needed one. Most importantly, you made me experience love for the first time after being imprisoned in a glass lantern for so many years. But what about you? Are you sure you want to marry? I am aware this would affect your adventuring and duties as a hero."

He lightly grasped her hand and gazed back, "I'm sure, it's almost time I move on with my life. I will still protect Ooo when I am needed, but my place is with you. This decision will have its hardships no doubt, but I'm sure I can handle it. You could say it's like having another adventure because it has its challenges. And you know me, I never back down on adventures."

They made out for a few minutes until FP asked, "I'm not in a rush, but when do you suppose we marry?"

Finn thought to himself for a while until he replied, "Well since Simon and Betty just married, I figured that it would be best to wait and let them have their moment. But to be more specific, I would say soon my love, **very** soon."

She giggled in excitement as he kissed her forehead, "I can't wait for us to be truly together."

He smiled warmly, "I know, Flame. When the time is right. Come now, let's head back to the party before we are missed."

As they walked into the main lobby, they noticed Lumpy Space Princess was still pinned down from a dog pile of penguins.

"This is like, totally bogus! Come oooon, let me go!" LSP kept struggling to break free but to no avail. Seconds later, another penguin jumped into the pile, much to her dismay.


	13. Blazing Disturbance

Weeks have passed since the famous wedding at the Ice Kingdom. Because the crazy Ice King no longer existed, many of Ooo's princesses traveled outside their kingdoms without worry. As a result, they formed stronger relations between each other and a new wave of prosperity flourished. Princess Bubblegum in fact made Simon's wedding day a holiday to commemorate the end of IK's kidnappings. Everyone was happy and crime was nearly nonexistent, for the moment.

Meanwhile, back at the Fire Kingdom, the former Flame King was fed his daily meal behind his cell at the Vulcan prison. He looked at his meal with disgust, "Ugh, I wonder what tonight's special is. Oh what do you know, it's charcoal that's a month old." He grumbled to himself and ate in peace.

As he ate his food, the warden taunted him, "The 'great' ruler of the Fire Kingdom is finally reduced to eating prison food."

Flame King kept his demeanor and replied, "You better watch what you say if you know what's good for you."

"Oh really?! Haha, well good luck with that." The warden began to head back his quarters until a sudden explosion shook the ground. Moments later, alarms blared and men were shouting in pain. He pulled out his communicator frantically, "Guys, report! What's going on?"

A guard responded, "W-we're under attack! The prison's been breached! I repeat the- AH!"

"Do you copy? Say again, do you copy?!" The warden was scared now. All he knew was that he needed to act fast. Seconds later, a squad of 12 men came to his aid, much to his relief.

The squad leader, Roy approached him, "Peyton, we need to relocate Flame King into a more secure location. Most of this facility has been overrun from a prison riot that he could use to his advantage."

Peyton gained his bearings and reluctantly nodded, "Alright, beats having him escape." He placed his keys inside the cell door and unlocked it. Flame King smirked, pleased by the fact he got to leave from his cramped cell. His smirk quickly disappeared however when the warden punched him in the face and then placed handcuffs on him. "Come on, you good for nothing ruler," Peyton sneered as he dragged him out.

Roy signaled the group's attention, "Listen up, our plan is to transfer this guy into the ISU (Isolated Secure Unit). It's the most heavily guarded sector and there's only one way in and out. If we do that, we'll be able stop anyone from having a chance to free Flame King."

"What's our strategic route," Peyton asked.

"We'll have to fight our way through the mess hall, then the laundry mat, and finally make our way to the central elevator. Keep in mind that we'll need to avoid the barracks, the armory, and the recreational grounds since that's where most of the fighting is. Now everyone, stay close and move out!" Roy drew his sword and motioned the group to follow.

The squad swiftly left for the mess hall as rioters approached closer to FK's holding cell. When Roy and his men made it to their first stop, they noticed most of the prisoners were being subdued from heavy riot units duel wielding batons. Unfortunately, they gradually faltered as the prisoners overwhelmed them with their sheer numbers.

Noticing this, Roy shouted, "Hurry, let's go while we still can!"

His squad followed him as they dispatched any stragglers that stood in their way. The prison was indeed in a frenzy. Around the facility, guards and prisoners struggled with each other as they tried prying their weapons from each other's hands. The place was littered with corpses and debris and there were also piles of clothes lit on fire.

When they made it to their second stop, they noticed that their next route was blocked from a makeshift barricade. Time was running out, if the squad couldn't find an alternate path in the next few seconds, then they'll be forced to fight for their lives.

Peyton's eyes scattered the area until he found a possible escape route, "There, the laundry chutes! It'll take us to where we need to be."

"Good work. Everyone on me." Roy pulled FK to go first.

"You've got to be joking! The drop is too far we'll never make it!" Flame King bellowed.

"So you think," Roy smirked. Moments later, the former monarch screamed as he was plunged into a tunnel of darkness. The others followed him straight after and they all landed in a oversized dumpster full of laundry at an alley. "Well, it's not the **cleanest** method but at least were close," Roy said dusting himself. Then he surveyed the area until he found their next route, "Ok, the central elevator's a straight shot from here. Since we're out in the open, we'll need to act fast. Everyone ready?

The squad waited as a prison mob rushed passed them towards one of the gateway exits. They were too preoccupied to look sideways since all they cared about was freedom. Seconds later, the mob disappeared from the squad's line of sight.

Roy smiled to himself and gave the order, "Go, go, go!"

The ISU building they needed to reach was only 50 feet. Just as they met the halfway point, the unexpected happened. An arrow flew right at Roy's head and killed him instantly. His squad stopped mid-run and began taking defensive positions. Unfortunately, everyone except Peyton and Flame King were sniped by archers in seconds.

Peyton cried, "What's going on?!" He just witnessed his comrades get killed before his very eyes. Everything was running smoothly up until this point. Now, here he was all alone and defenseless with the former monarch.

"Looks like I'm not called the 'great ruler' for nothing," FK smirked.

Before Peyton could retort, he was shot in the back by a fire stream from one of the alchemists helping FK. He landed on his stomach with his arms spread out. Then, FK's rescuers approached him. The extraction team consisted of 6 archers and 3 alchemists. As soon as they met each other face to face, the team leader and his squad saluted FK.

"My lord, are you alright," the leader asked.

Flame King nodded, "I'm fine. But let's get out of here before more guards show up. Do we have transportation ready?"

"Yes sir, a dragon interceptor will be arriving here in about 30 seconds. Let's stay clear of the drop zone." He and the others moved back into the alley to clear the landing.

A few seconds later, a light-weight fire dragon landed at their location. Unlike most dragons, this one was relatively small and ideal for quick getaways. Because of its size however, only one person could fit. After it landed, Flame King and the others ran back towards the dragon.

"My lord, the dragon has already been given a preset destination. All you need to do is give him a signal and he will take care of the rest," the leader said.

"Excellent. What about you guys?"

The leader made a dismissive gesture, "The guards haven't made us yet, and we'll be long gone before they catch us. For now, you need to go. We'll see you on the other side, your majesty." He saluted one more time.

FK saluted back, "Your efforts will be highly rewarded." Then, he mounted the dragon and used the reins to fly away.

The dragon and its rider flew in the air for 10 minutes until they descended into the Dark Forests. Once they landed, Flame King dismounted the dragon and was greeted by what seemed like a small army of fire elementals. They were all wearing the same military uniforms from the Fire Kingdom except that their traditional markings were replaced with a fiery bird with its wings spread out.

"Welcome, my lord! It is great to have you back," one of them said.

"It's great to be back. I see you and your team have managed to return in one piece," FK smiled.

"Ah, I see you have recognized my voice. My name is Dillon, sir. With your permission, may I give you a tour of the place?"

FK nodded.

Dillon clasped his hands, "Great, please follow me."

They walked together as Dillon showed his former ruler their base of operations. As they walked, FK noticed more fire elementals salute him.

After a while FK commented, "There's a lot of people here."

Dillon nodded, "Of course, these are the same men and women who have fought for you under your rule. When we heard you were dethroned by your daughter the first time, many of us deserted and banded together to establish the Phoenix Brigade you see before you. We do not follow your daughter's beliefs of complete honesty nor do we agree with the fact she has opened our kingdom's borders. We believe that the Fire Kingdom should embrace its evil nature and dominate this land with fear and power. Before, we were merely just a private mercenary company that worked for the highest bidder. But now that you're here, our sole purpose is to help you restore order as it should be."

FK nodded then frowned, "I see, but I wonder. Who's in charge here?"

"Before we freed you, the Phoenix Brigade was coordinated under a temporary leadership by one of your most distinguished soldiers. As a matter of fact, I was just going to introduce you to him. He would be most pleased with your return and even happier to hand over command to you," Dillon replied. They walked towards the command post tent and stopped at the entrance. Dillon pried one of the flaps open with his hand and said, "My lord, allow me to introduce you to-"

As soon as the tent opened, Flame King flashed the biggest smile on his face upon recognizing the leader, "RAMIREZ!"


	14. Phoenix Brigade Rising

It had been several hours since Flame King escaped from prison. Flame Princess, Finn, and Cinnamon Bun were gathered in a council meeting at the Fire Kingdom palace. Accompanying the three at the meeting were FP's generals.

"Unbelievable!" Flame Princess slammed her hands on the table. "This is the third time my father has escaped. I thought leaving him in our best prison would prevent something like this!"

CB lifted his hand to her in comfort, "Ok, just calm down. We're all stressed out about this. Let's just take a couple of breaths then address the matter."

FP was defiant at first until she saw Finn give her a look of encouragement. Then she nodded and recomposed herself, "Alright...what are the details of the prison escape?"

One of her generals replied, "Ma'am, it has come to our knowledge that Flame King was freed from the same mercenaries from the previous coup. Based on what we know, they call themselves the Phoenix Brigade. Most of these members are identified as fire elementals who formerly served in our military."

"Ok, so it seems that we still have people who choose to follow my father's rule." FP flared up slightly and tightened her fists, "Even without my complete honesty law. Anyway general, please continue."

"The good news is that we were able to prevent all the other prisoners from escaping, but it turns out that the riot was staged as a distraction. We were given reports that Roy's squad was escorting Flame King to the ISU, but they were killed in action before they could make it. From here, we were informed that Flame King escaped using a dragon interceptor at approximately 22:00 hours near the ISU building."

Flame Princess placed a hand on her forehead, "(sigh) He could be hiding anywhere in this case. We have yet to learn more about this Phoenix Brigade, their whereabouts, and their capabilities... We will need to assume the possibility of another coup. General, assemble the armies and post this kingdom on high alert. We will need to enact martial law and enforce curfew in case we have any spies in our kingdom. Effective immediately."

"Yes my liege." The general bowed to her and dismissed himself.

Flame Princess looked over to one of her representatives, "I will need to schedule an emergency meeting with the leaders of Ooo's kingdoms especially Princess Bubblegum of the Candy Kingdom. Please inform her of the situation as soon as possible."

"It shall be done your majesty." He bowed then left.

FP concluded, "This council meeting is adjourned. Everyone, dismissed."

Hours later, Princess Bubblegum was informed of the situation and offered her alliance with the Fire Kingdom. As she helped, the other royalties of Ooo followed suit and began assembling their armies. Simon and Betty were also informed, but they couldn't join the alliance yet since they were halfway across the world from their honeymoon. It would take them a few days before they can return to the Ice Kingdom and provide support. Fortunately, Flame King didn't mobilize his forces at the time, and Simon and Betty were able to return without delay.

Flame Princess was back at the palace overlooking her domain from the balcony. Her eyes were red and heavy. She had been sleeping inconsistently for only a couple of hours throughout the weeks. Finn was not any better as well. Although he was used to working sleepless nights as a hero, his concern for his love tasked his mind. He hated to see her miserable and felt frustrated that Flame King was the source of it.

Finn walked over to Flame Princess's side while looking at the horizon, "Go get some rest, FP. Your father hasn't made his move yet. It pains me to see you suffer like this."

FP frowned, "No, I cannot afford to drop my guard at any given moment. He's out there with his armies somewhere. If I rest now, my father would just spring into action and take over this kingdom."

He shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder, "FP, please. I beg you. You are in no condition to fight. If you face him now, you will falter from your lack of strength... I don't want to lose you if I know I can do something about it."

She looked down in resignation, "You're right, Finn. This whole crisis just reminded me of the recent rebellion. I guess when I looked back, there was a moment of weakness when I believed I was alone again." Tears started to form, "I'm sorry, Finn. I told you before we would work together as a team, but here I am going against my own advice."

Finn hugged her and said soothingly, "Flame, it's ok. That's why I'm here. You helped me through my struggle back at Simon's wedding and now I'm helping you with yours. This relationship works both ways. As long as we never give up on each other, we will make it through this."

FP wiped her eyes and brightened slightly, "Thanks, Finn. I needed that. But, you don't seem like you fare any better than I do. What good is it that you tell me to rest if you need it as well?"

He shrugged, "I'll be fine, I've trained myself to work without sleep under certain conditions."

She shook her head in disapproval, "No, I will not sleep unless you do the same. You need it as much as I do. As a matter of fact, I'll have Cinnamon Bun keep watch. That way, both of us will be ready when the time comes."

Finn smiled, "Alright, see we're working together now! I bet you in the future that our places would be switched again and you'll be the one comforting me."

She playfully punched his arm, "Finn, this is serious!"

He grimaced in pain, "I know, I know! I'm just trying to ease the tension. Sheesh, that hurt!"

She rolled her eyes, "Ok 'hero', come on."

Meanwhile, back at the Dark Forests, the Phoenix Brigade made final preparations for their invasion. At this point, they already had as much 5 million troops at their disposal. Most of the brigade was diverse with bandits, thieves, and barbarians who shared the same interests with Flame King. They were all recruited from the far reaches of the Bad Lands. During the past time, Flame King and his subordinates placed them through rigorous training to make them become deadly warriors. Now that they were done, the newly formed army anxiously waited for the order to strike.

Flame King, Dillon, and Ramirez stood together side by side surveying the infantry columns. FK stood in the center, Dillon to his left, and Ramirez at his right.

"We are ready, my lord. When do we attack," Dillon asked.

"Tomorrow, at dawn," FK replied. "I want to show our might to all of Ooo as the sun rises. It think it seems fitting given our name. Ramirez, wouldn't you agree?"

He nodded in silence.

FK looked back at the infantry columns, "Their time is coming, gentlemen. Soon we will have our glorious victory." He narrowed his eyes and muttered darkly, "Even if we must stand on a pile of ashes."


	15. First Strike

It was 10 minutes before the Phoenix Brigade would mobilize. Everyone made final preparations by checking their weapons, armor, and gear. They told each other about how fighting this war would give them all the wealth and fame they could ever dream of. Some laughed while others remained silent. The ones who didn't smile were veterans and knew the true concept of war. They knew the crusade they were about to embark on would be long and difficult.

Suddenly, everyone hushed and stood at attention as Commander Dillon stepped forward, "My fellow soldiers, you have all done an excellent job with your training. Now, it's time to put that to the test. In less than 5 minutes, we are about to launch the greatest military campaign in history. I have full confidence that you'll meet our highest expectations and achieve ultimate victory!"

The infantry columns cheered in response raising their fists and weapons in the air.

Dillon continued, "Now is the time, gentlemen! Fortune and glory await you beyond these forests. Go forth and claim it!"

The company cheered even louder. Moments later, they assembled into formation and proceeded to march away from the Dark Forests.

Back at the Breakfast Kingdom, one of the local guards was observing the landscape with a set of binoculars from the city walls. He noticed the morning sky seemed a bit brighter across the distant horizon. After taking a closer look, he realized there was an army of fire elementals approaching. "Weird," he thought. "I don't remember anything about the Fire Kingdom visiting today." He pulled out his communicator, "Control, do we any recent reports about the Fire Kingdom sending troops here?"

"Standby... Uh, negative. We have no notifications regarding any military presence sent by the Fire Kingdom. Any reason?"

"I spotted a large group of fire elementals approaching the west gate. There are probably hundreds of thousands of them, maybe more."

"Roger that, we're contacting Breakfast Princess about the situation. Standby for further orders."

"10-4, over and... wait a minute. I see something bright approaching..." Seconds after he said that, the bright object collided at his location, resulting in an explosion that killed him instantly.

After the explosion, alarms blared throughout the entire Breakfast Kingdom. There was an intercom alerting the citizens, "Attention, the Breakfast Kingdom is under attack. Please seek shelter or proceed to your nearest military outpost. This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill!"

Everyone trampled over each other to get their designated areas. During the panic, windows shattered, wagons tipped over, and litter scattered the streets. Breakfast Kingdom troops on the other hand, assembled defensive positions at the west gate. Archers and catapults gathered at the wall and waited until the enemy was within range.

Flame King and his army stood a safe distance from the killzone. He looked at his men with concern as some of them showed mixed feelings of anxiety, fear, and determination. Finally, he said, "Do not be afraid. Your brothers in arms will stand by you all the way. Work together as one unit and we'll have this kingdom before lunch."

The crowd cheered from the morale.

FK waited for a few moments until he yelled, "Charge!"

The Phoenix Brigade gave out one massive battle cry as they advanced towards the wall. Some died from the archers, while others were killed from the catapults. The defenders actually thought for a moment their job would be easy. Sadly, their hopes were shattered as several explosives detonated a significant portion of the city wall. Dozens of defenders were lost instantly.

Moments later, the attackers breached through the 50 feet wide opening and began clashing swords against the resistance. However, the defending catapults were still operational and continued to barrage the enemy. Flame King noticed this as he looked through his telescope, "We may have breached the outer wall, but those catapults will cut off our reinforcements before we can even get a chance at a swift victory." He looked over to his right hand man, "Ramirez, take your team and destroy those catapult units. I'll send the rest of the men as soon as you get that done. Go!"

He gave a quick nod and gathered a squad of 14 elite soldiers known as the Crimson Gauntlet. Unlike the others, these men were special forces trained in multiple skills ranging from swords, archery, and alchemy. They grabbed their gear and rushed past the main force. As they advanced, helmets and limbs flew in the air from their fallen comrades.

* * *

"Major Benedict, our catapult units have cut off the invader's reinforcements. We have managed to halt their advance," a breakfast knight reported.

"Good work, keep up the pressure. We need to maintain cover for our fire support long enough to reinforce the west gate." About 20 minutes later, the catapults began firing at a slower rate. Noticing this, Benedict shouted at his communicator, "Guys, we NEED to keep up the pressure! It'll be open season for us if we stop! Hello?! Does anyone read?"

As Benedict fiddled with his communicator, Ramirez snuck up behind and impaled him through the chest with his sword. Then, Ramirez pulled out a detonator and blew up the rest of the catapult emplacements. The rest of his unit regrouped with him seconds later.

Flame King called him through his communicator, "Good work, Ramirez. The enemy is pulling back. Now, proceed to phase 2. You know what to do."

The leader of the Crimson Gauntlet nodded his head in acknowledgement then motioned his team to follow. Seconds later, they vanished into the chaos following their next objective.

Breakfast forces were in disarray. Without their support, they had no choice but to retreat further into the city. Homes and settlements were blown apart and set ablaze as Flame King's catapult units advanced closer to the palace. No mercy was shown from the Phoenix Brigade as they slew soldiers and civilians alike.

Over at one of the main streets, breakfast archers used a fire and retreat tactic to regroup near the palace. Once they made it, they assembled a makeshift barricade using sandbags, wagons, and furniture. Then they took defensive positions and checked their weapons and gear.

"Sarge, do we have any backup," asked one of the breakfast knights.

He tried using his communicator but to no avail, "It's no use, I can't get ahold of Command. All units are currently engaging the enemy. We're on our own." The leader observed his unit for a long time. Many of the men had solemn expressions while others had looks of desperation. Finally, the sergeant replied, "We're going to finish this fight until we run out of arrows, swords, spears... **knights**. Are you with me?" He shouted at the last part.

"Sir, yes sir!" His men shouted collectively.

Now that they were boosted with morale, the defenders waited in anticipation as the Phoenix Brigade approached their location. Once they were visible, the defenders held their fire until they were in range. Then, a volley of arrows were shot behind the barricade while the attackers retaliated with a volley of fire blasts. Shots were exchanged for 10 minutes until the barricade gave out.

"Brace yourselves, men. Our cover's exposed!" The breakfast sergeant motioned his fire teams to line up behind the swordsmen. But just when he and the others prepared themselves, a harrowing sight met all their eyes. The Phoenix Brigade sent in a wave of catapults. The sergeant calmly straightened his helmet, "Gentlemen, it's been an honor serving with you." Moments later, he and the others were consumed in a series of fiery explosions.

Flame King watched as his forces pummeled the remaining defenders, "Great job, everyone. The palace is a home-stretch from here. Fire support teams will tear down their defenses first, then we will strike altogether as a whole and crush the last remnants of resistance. Keep fighting, victory is at hand!"


	16. Ooo in Conflict: Phoenix Assault

Never before has the Breakfast Kingdom experienced a full-scale invasion. Even though they were warned earlier from Flame Princess's emergency meeting, the army was no match for Flame King's forces. In just a few hours, the invaders breached through the outer defenses and approached the palace. The city was in ruins, and a huge inferno covered the background with ashes and embers littering the streets. One might say that it could have been a reenactment battle of the Mushroom War. Most of the defeated defenders were lying on the ground groaning in agony. Some of them suffered serious burns across the body, some were dismembered missing an arm or leg or even both, and others were incinerated altogether. The Central Park that Finn and Breakfast Princess met a few months ago was now a mass grave. Blood streaks stained the area and bodies of the valiant defenders were thrown into the park's fountain.

Inside the palace, the remaining troops were scrambling to barricade all the entrances. Papers flew in the air as council members attempted to shred any documents that could be exploited from Flame King. Most of the civilian population also took refuge in the palace by hiding in the underground bunkers. Meanwhile, Breakfast Princess herself was inside her bedroom with 10 royal guards. She tried to contact Finn on her phone numerous times, but reception was down. It turned out that Ramirez and his elite squadron captured the communications post and took away any chances of calling for help. It was hopeless.

Toast Princess sat beside BP, "What's going to happen to us?"

BP held her closely, "I don't know, sister. All we can do is hope for the best."

"I'm scared," TP was now in tears.

"Me too, be strong my little sister. If anything happens, I want you to know that I always love you. That is something those monsters out there can never take away." BP sniffled as she wiped her own tears and thought to herself, "Oh Finn, if only you were here."

"Alright everyone, stay clear of the windows and exits. They're going to bombard this place before they send in the infantry," a breakfast knight reported.

Immediately, everyone followed his instructions and proceeded to hide behind anything sturdy to block incoming debris. The knights themselves assembled shoulder to shoulder with their shields raised. Sweat dripped from their foreheads and some of their hands shook from anxiety. Few moments later, the bombardment commenced. The whole place shook as each stone met their mark causing dust to fall from the ceiling. It wasn't long until Flame King's catapults began creating serious damage that portions of the roof collapsed onto some unfortunate victims.

Suddenly, the main entrance blew wide open which killed even more bystanders. At that moment, the bombardment ceased and the defenders heard a terrifying battle cry that shook them to the core. The entrance to the palace was obscured from a big dust cloud, but the knights knew the Phoenix Brigade was seconds away from approaching.

The defenders quickly recovered from the blast and began to reassemble into the same formation with their shields. When the battle cry stopped, bursts of flames shot through the opening. The defending archers quickly returned fire but lost more units compared to the Phoenix Brigade. Then, knights from both sides clashed with each other face to face.

"This is it, men! Go down fighting," shouted one breakfast knight.

Breakfast Princess and her sister were still in their bedroom. They heard the sounds of chaos drawing nearby and held each other as their royal escort began to take defensive positions. Suddenly, the place became disturbingly quiet. From that instant, the two royalties took cover behind their bed in the corner while the guards readied their shields. As if on cue, the bedroom door blew wide open and all the guards were effortlessly dispatched.

The sisters were terrified. As they peeked from cover, they noticed that the enemy pointed spears and crossbows at them. With nowhere to run, Breakfast Princess and Toast Princess instinctively raised their hands in surrender. Moments later, two soldiers approached them at a brisk pace and applied handcuffs on both of them.

As the fighting subsided, Ramirez and his team gathered at the palace rooftop hoisting the flag of the Phoenix Brigade. Banners also draped along the balconies in succession. The remaining population that hid underneath the palace were kept in the bunkers as makeshift prisons.

Flame King was standing outside on top of the city's outer wall. He observed the destruction his army had wrought with a satisfactory grin. Just as he expected, his forces heeded his orders and have managed to conquer the Breakfast Kingdom in a few hours. Although it was already early in the afternoon, he was pleased enough to know the invasion was a success. Suddenly, his communicator beeped, "Report."

"My liege, this is Commander Dillon. I am happy to report that the Slime Kingdom has been taken over with little resistance. The only real casualties were our uniforms considering the environment."

FK nodded, "Excellent work! Do you have the princess?"

"Yes sir, she has been apprehended. What shall we do with her and the other royals?"

"Death is too easy for them. They must live so they can witness the shame of defeat and humiliation. Besides, if we kill them now, the world will look at them as martyrs who defied our forces to the bitter end," FK reasoned.

"I understand, my lord. In the meantime, I'll set up defenses for our units and schedule a council meeting for our next plan of attack. Commander Dillon out."

After FK hung up, his right hand man approached him at his side. They observed the landscape together as clean up crews gathered all the dropped weapons and corpses of their fallen comrades.

"Well Ramirez, it has begun," FK said with a deep breath.

His response was only a silent acknowledgement.

FK continued, "Operation Wildfire was a success, but this is only the beginning. These two kingdoms fell so easily because they were not prepared for such an attack. I know in the future that the others will truly be ready for us. It just simply means there won't be swift victories from here on out." He made a dismissive gesture, "No matter, we'll kill them all anyway won't we, Ramirez?"

Once again, he nodded his head in acceptance.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Fire Kingdom, Finn and Flame Princess were sleeping together in bed at the palace. FP was restless with her movements until she finally jolted awake. Apparently, the news of her father's third escape from prison gave her constant nightmares of losing her kingdom. Her distress only became worse when Cinnamon Bun knocked at her room frantically.

"Flame Princess and Finn, I have terrible news! It is with the utmost urgency that you must know this immediately."

Finn stretched and wiped his eyes, "What is it CB? What's going on?"

"I think it'll be easier for me to show you than explain. Please hurry!"

The couple quickly sprang from bed and left the room. Then, CB led them to one of the palace conference rooms. Several of FP's generals and representatives were seated already until FP entered the area.

"At ease, everyone," she ordered.

All of her subjects sat back down on their seats. They anxiously waited in silence as she took several deep breaths.

"Alright, what news do you have for me?"

One of her representatives replied, "Your majesty, we have been given reports that the Breakfast Kingdom and the Slime Kingdom have fallen to the Phoenix Brigade."

Finn instantly tensed himself. "Wait a minute, how could that have happened?! Shouldn't there have been something to warn us ahead of time? Why do we know this now and not before," he seethed.

"W-we're looking into it, sir," he stammered.

Suddenly, the television in the room gained everyone's attention from an incoming broadcast, "This is LSN (Lumpy Space News) reporting live with breaking news. Just a few hours ago, the Fire Kingdom's most wanted criminal, Flame King has conquered two civilizations from the Bad Lands known as the Breakfast and Slime Kingdoms after several weeks of hiding. The main cities are desolated from the conflict with flames raging across the skies and the death toll is currently unknown. Our sources are speculating about how they managed to complete such a feat unnoticed, but there is one thing we know for sure: Ooo is now at **war**."

Finn got up from his seat and started to leave, "I have to go." His voice was adamant and he dashed outside the palace.

FP recovered from her initial shock, "Finn, wait!" She ran after him only to discover that he was trying to conjure a portal from his teleportation book but with no success. Then, he tried dialing Breakfast Princess and Slime Princess on his phone only to find that the line was disconnected.

"Dang it," Finn shouted as he threw his teleportation book on the ground. "Something's preventing me from reaching the kingdoms. I couldn't save them! I couldn't save any of them!" He continued to vent out all his anger and frustration as FP solemnly watched in silence. Finally, Finn's aggression diminished after a few minutes. All he did now was look down and lean forward with his right forearm resting against a large rock.

"Finn," FP cautiously approached him with her hand outstretched. When she finally touched his shoulder, he looked at her and then embraced her. The hero of Ooo was in tears.

"Years of training. I've spent a great portion of my life trying to protect everyone, but I failed," Finn said.

"You haven't failed, Finn. There was no telling if they were in danger before it was too late," she comforted.

He made a silent acknowledgement then continued, "Breakfast Princess and I were good friends you know. She was the one who motivated me to visit you after being apart for four years."

She hugged him back with tears forming from her face, "Before the second coup..." She embraced him even harder.

"I loved her as a sister. She was someone who I consulted for good advice and I have no idea what will happen to her," Finn sniffled. He backed away but maintained his hold on FP. He stared into her eyes, "You're everything to me, Flame. You're the one person who's helping me keep sane right now. I don't want to lose you too."

She combed his short, shaggy hair with her fingers as she stared back into his eyes, "I love you, Finn. Both of us are tough and can defend ourselves. For me, I'm not your typical damsel in distress. But, I see your point. Just don't get yourself killed too, alright? Because right now, I wouldn't know what to do without you."

Finn chuckled through his tears, "I guess we both need to take strength from each other. I love you so much Flame Princess." His lips captured his fiery companion's and deepened the kiss moments later. He put all of his might and soul into it as FP's flames brightened in response. The world came to a brief standstill as they expressed their affection.

Finally, they broke for air and rested on each other's foreheads. Flame Princess spoke up, "Let's go, Finn. We'll gather our forces and liberate our allies together. First things first, we'll contact our friends for help and then we can move out."

Finn smiled as he wiped his eyes, "I can do that."

"Oh, and Finn?"

"Yes, my love?"

FP showed a faint smirk, "Looks like you won from that last bet."

They laughed together for a short time and then walked backed towards the palace.


	17. Road to Liberation

The armed forces of the Fire Kingdom marched out of their city. Thousands of citizens watched the event waving small flags and banners. Patriotic music blared throughout the main streets and people were cheering nonstop. As the troops marched, some waved to the locals with smiles, while others kept a stoic expression and continued moving. In the middle of the military column were Flame Princess and Finn mounting on Jake 2. Cinnamon Bun was ordered by FP to stay with the reserves to keep watch of the kingdom.

As they reached the city limits, Finn tapped FP's shoulder, "Flame, can you take us to the tree fort back at the Grasslands? I just need to grab a few things real quick."

She nodded, "Of course, Finn." Then she radioed her forces, "Maintain your course towards the Bad Lands. Finn and I will meet up with you shortly."

"By your command," Major Hartsock replied.

FP looked at her loyal fire wolf and said, "Ok, buddy. Take us to Finn's place back at the Grasslands."

The wolf barked once in compliance and then proceeded to fly to their destination. They arrived at the Grasslands in 15 minutes without any struggle. But as the house rapidly came closer in view, Finn realized something at the last second, "Wait, Jake 2 don't crash into the..."

The hound rammed through the same opening from before. "...wall," Finn hung his head in dismay.

FP blushed in embarrassment, "Oops, sorry Finn."

Finn raised his hand defensively, "No no no, it wasn't your fault. I should have said something before we left. I'll hire someone to take care of it, no worries." He dismounted Jake 2 and walked towards his weapons stash.

FP followed suit and looked around the living room, "Heh, it feels like it was yesterday when I came here for your help that one time." From that instant, FP realized her mistake and Finn briefly stopped with his packing, "Finn... I'm really sorry. I-"

Finn comforted her with a reassuring smile, "Flame, that's all in the past. None of that matters now. The memories may never go away, but in the end they helped me become a better person and now we're together."

FP smiled back in relief, "Thanks, Finn." He resumed his packing and then FP continued, "Do you need any help?

"No, I'm fine. I'm actually just finishing up." Finn packed one more sword following some food and drinks in a duffel bag. "I've got us some snacks for the trip in case we get hungry, let's go."

The couple mounted back on Jake 2 and flew back on their way to catch up with the military. In about 20 minutes, Flame Princess and Finn regrouped with the Fire Kingdom army which was still marching towards the Bad Lands. Jake 2 landed back on the ground and then trotted to move at the same pace with the infantry. Although the hound can arrive at their destination within a short time, Finn and FP would need the company of their comrades if they are to overpower the Phoenix Brigade.

"So," Finn began. "How will everything work once we get there?"

"We'll set up camp several miles away at the outskirts. Just close enough to free our allies, but far enough to avoid detection," Flame Princess replied. "Simon and Betty will also meet us there along with Bubblegum's forces."

"That's good, I'm glad that you and Bubblegum are on better terms," Finn said.

FP nodded, "I may have my doubts about her still, but I realize I need to move on from my history with her. I guess it's a little difficult for me to do so because I believed she could have done something to prevent my imprisonment in that glass lantern throughout my childhood. Not to mention that I feel uncertain about her personal pursuits for science. (sigh) But somehow in a spectacular turn of events, our hearts found each other along the way."

They both smiled and blushed in response.

Moments later, FP frowned to herself, "I still can't believe my own father despises me. Even though he abandoned me in the woods and even when he imprisoned me in a glass lantern for most of my life, part of me still believed that there was some good in him despite his evil nature." Her eyes became teary, "I mean, he must have loved me at some point. It conflicts with my emotions so much that I wish I could hear what my mother would have said on the matter... wherever she may be." She hung her head in sadness.

Finn touched her shoulder with one hand in comfort, "I'm sorry to hear that, Flame."

"It's fine (sniff), I'll be strong." Then her tears dried quickly, "There is truly no good in my father whatsoever. I've spared his life twice too many and he still doesn't care if he kills me. I mean, he even had the audacity to leave me to die as a baby. He was like that before and he is like that now. That man has brought nothing but suffering to me and our friends. I've spared his life repeatedly for the sake that he sired me, but now that excuse has met its end."

Finn maintained his hold on her, "It's a shame that it's come down to this. I, myself thought for a time he could change like you and reform. But, he's deliberately chosen to stay on this path despite everything you've done for him. He's taken too many lives already and he'll probably take even more if he is not stopped."

FP wiped her face, "I won't struggle to face him this time. With you by my side, we'll bring him down together in justice."

They continued the rest of their trip in silence. Hours passed, and the military occasionally stopped for food and restroom breaks. Finally, the Fire Kingdom Army arrived at their destination a few minutes past midnight. Finn and Flame Princess dismounted Jake 2, much to the hound's relief.

"Good boy. Just take it easy," Finn patted him. "Oh, man," Finn stretched his back yawning. "That took a bit longer than I thought."

"I concur," Flame Princess yawned at the last part. Then she looked over to her company and announced, "Alright everyone, set up your tents and essentials and maintain a routine overwatch. Take as much rest as you can because in less than 8 hours, we're moving out."

The men acknowledged her orders and began fulfilling their duties.

"That means you too Finn," FP looked at him with a slight glare as he stopped walking away towards the perimeter. "You'll need your strength more than anyone here."

Finn winced from her expression, "Right, force of habit. I'll start unpacking and get some sleep. Goodnight."

As he walked back into the camp, Flame Princess thought to herself, "You'll get your chance Finn. In fact we'll all get our chance." She looked towards the direction of the Breakfast Kingdom with a hardened expression, "My father's ambition for conquest ends here."


	18. Setting the Stage

The hours quickly passed as Flame Princess and her armies rested. Before they knew it, there was only one hour left to strike. She got up from her tent and began to make her way towards the command post. Inside were Finn, Simon, Betty, Bubblegum, and FP's generals.

"I'm glad that you could join us Flame Princess," Betty greeted.

"Thanks, it's good to see you too," FP gave her a hug. She continued to greet the others momentarily and then went straight to business, "Ok, let's go over the briefing."

"Ma'am, our scouts report that the enemy has set up bunker emplacements here, here, and here. It turns out that they have modified the kingdom's defenses along the outer wall and have set up additional catapult positions in front of the wall itself. If that's not enough, there are also hundreds of ground troops stationed around the defense perimeter. Subtlety is out of the question, so we're going to have to hit them hard and fast," one general replied.

FP and the others nodded, "Ok, with that being said, what's our best strategy?"

"Well, we have been given intel that this portion of the perimeter has a slight opening. If we can breach that area, we'll be able to take down the rest of their outer defenses in suit. The plan is we'll strike all areas of the kingdom and use smoke to cover our assault. As soon as we take out most of those ground emplacements, we'll be able provide fire support from our catapults."

She frowned slightly, "Are you sure there are no other options?"

Her general sincerely replied, "We have thoroughly searched for alternatives before we resorted to this. If you have any better suggestions, I'm all ears."

FP shook her head.

"For now, breaching that tactical opening is our best shot. We're going to need our best fighters to complete this objective and we only have one chance at this."

"I'll go," Finn said.

"Betty and I will go too," Simon said.

"I'm in," Bubblegum said. "You're going to need my expertise when we run into some tech problems along the way."

"I shall go as well," Flame Princess said.

The general replied, "My liege, are you sure you want to go? I'm not questioning your abilities as a fighter, but I am concerned for your safety. You are our leader after all."

"I understand and appreciate your concern. However, as ruler of the Fire Kingdom, I must lead our forces through example. I'm better off handling the situation in person than just sitting here giving orders."

The general bowed, "I understand, your majesty. In that case, you'll also have a task force to accompany you along the way."

"Thank you general. Everyone dismissed."

The group made preparations for the fight. Swords were polished, spears were sharpened, and crossbows were loaded. In the midst of the camp, two fire soldiers spoke with each other.

"So, if we're just liberating the Breakfast Kingdom here, then who's going after the Slime Kingdom?"

"I've been told Muscle Princess and her forces are leading the charge along with Wildberry Princess, Hot dog Princess, and Emerald Princess's."

"That sounds like we have more than enough to get the job done."

"I hope you are right, Benjamin. Numbers may help in battle, but I worry about their fighting experience. We are the only ones besides the Candy Kingdom who have adequate experiences with combat."

"Me too, Anthony. I have this queasy feeling in my stomach right now. All this waiting is making me anxious. I feel like I want to get this fight over with, but at the same time I want to go back home and look after Ma."

Anthony rubbed Benjamin's shoulder with one hand, "It's alright, brother. I feel the same way too being caught in between that line to fight. I'm sure most of these people we see around here don't want to do this but are here because we have no other choice. Flame King has rallied his forces, our own men against us, and they will continue to endanger our friends and families until this war ends."

"You're right, you're right, I'll keep it together.," Benjamin took a few breaths. "By the way, do you think Ma knows where we are from television?"

Anthony shook his head, "From what I heard, Princess Bubblegum has spoken with the Lumpy Space Kingdom and they have agreed to suspend all forms of news media during wartime to ensure the security of our military."

"That's reasonable, I suppose. I guess that means I'll just have to stick with writing then."

"Don't worry, I'll remind you from time to time so you won't forget. Just stay behind me when we go out there ok? I promised Ma I would look out for you."

"I will, Anthony. I will," Benji nodded repeatedly.

As they finished with their conversation, most of the infantry was beginning to mobilize. Then, an officer approached them, "Alright boys, grab your gear and move up. You guys will be assigned to Alpha Squad for this operation."

The brothers acknowledged their orders and proceeded to meet the rest of the team. They were surprised when they discovered Flame Princess and her friends made up most of the group. There were also 18 elite soldiers standing by their sides.

"Well, well, well, looks like it's our lucky day, Benji. We'll be fighting alongside her majesty's presence along with her cohorts," Anthony smirked.

"Sweet!" Benji showed a huge grin on his face underneath his helmet and shook hands with Flame Princess. "It is a great privilege to fight beside you, your highness."

FP smiled and suppressed a giggle, "Likewise, noble knight."

"Alright, Benji. Let's not take too much of our ruler's time. Come along. Sorry ma'am, he's just a big fan," Anthony rolled his eyes as he dragged him away.

Flame Princess rubbed her neck with one hand as she looked over to Finn who had his arms crossed, "Heh, I get that sometimes."

Finn smirked underneath his mask and teased, "Should I be concerned with him?"

She blushed, "No! Don't be ridiculous!"

Finn nodded in approval, "Good. Thought I had some competition there."

At this, FP cocked her right fist in the air with a mock scowl, "Oh yeah, how about I beat you and bite you instead?!"

Finn's cockiness immediately took a nosedive and raised his hands defensively, "Hey, hey easy I was just kidding!"

"That's what I thought, hmph!" FP turned her back on him playfully with her arms crossed.

Simon whacked Finn on the back of the head, "Great work, 'lover boy'."

"My scientific analysis on relationships suggests that one must think before they act," Bubblegum added.

"Yeah, Finn. That insecurity is a huge turnoff," Betty chimed.

Finn's face turned crimson in embarrassment, "What? I was just kidding. Come on, man!"

They all laughed except for Finn.


	19. War on Two Fronts

The moment of truth was at hand. Flame Princess and Bubblegum's armies gathered near the edge of the battlefield side by side. Although it was only morning, the desolation that Flame King and his men wrought upon the Breakfast Kingdom had blocked out the sun which made the sky overall dark and gloomy. Ashes and embers drifted in the wind as a constant omen of the Phoenix Brigade's ruthlessness towards its enemies.

Flame Princess was mounted on Jake 2 and delivered a war speech to her people, "My fellow soldiers, today is the day we stand together as united kingdoms. We are here to cast aside our differences and fight for one common goal: to put an end to Flame King's belligerent nature!"

The crowd cheered with their weapons raised.

"Our enemies await us at the gates of the Breakfast Kingdom. They are ready for us, fortified in their defenses, and are well-armed. But our sheer will and tenacity to overcome them is far greater!"

The crowd cheered again.

"I know what I ask of you will not be easy to accomplish. But know this, the men standing beside you will always watch your back. Trust in each other and work together. Fight to protect your families and our way of life so that we may live in peace."

The crowd cheered one last time.

"Now, ready your weapons!" Flame Princess ordered.

"Ready your weapons," several officers repeated.

The infantry drew their weapons in a single fashion.

FP motioned her catapult units to deploy smoke.

"Deploying smoke," they said.

The rocks traveled into the air and landed directly into the middle of the battlefield and smoke dispersed seconds after impact.

FP and the others felt like they waited for an eternity as the smoke gradually covered the kingdom's view. Finally, the wait was over and FP materialized a flame sword, swung it forward, and shouted, "Charge!"

Hundreds upon thousands of liberators gave out a huge battle cry as they dashed towards the smokescreen. As they approached the kingdom grounds, they were greeted with enemy catapults, arrows, and bursts of flames. Bodies flew in the air and dozens were killed from the bunkers that shot blindly in their direction.

"Keep moving forward," one knight shouted.

When the attackers reached close to some of the bunkers, the men instinctively raised their shields to protect themselves from incoming fire. However, they needed to act fast because the smoke was dissipating and soon the defending catapult units would zero in on their location.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Slime Kingdom, the fight also started. The liberation forces were led by Muscle Princess, Wildberry Princess, Hot dog Princess, and Emerald Princess. Also joining them in the fight were Jake and Marceline. The magical canine was previously over at the Grocery Kingdom gathering some ingredients for his lobster soul sandwich. Once he heard of the news, he stopped his shopping and ran over to the nearest kingdom from his location. As for Marcy, she was flying around and about and heard some rumors regarding several of Ooo's forces gathering at the Slime Kingdom. Intrigued by this information, the vampire decided to investigate for herself only to find it was true and encounter Jake.

"Whoo, I haven't had this kind of action in a long time," Marceline exclaimed while slaying her enemies with her ax bass.

"Yeah, Finn would have loved to see this. I just wish he was here though. I've been trying to contact him with my phone, but I can't reach him for some reason," Jake said as he pummeled several enemy knights with his giant fists.

"Oh I'm sure he's fighting out there too, probably with his flaming girlfriend. He'll be fine," she smirked.

Jake couldn't help but smile to himself, "Perhaps you're right, Marceline. I'm glad for my bro that he's happy again. I really am." As Jake finished his sentence, he formed one of his fists into a giant mallet and swung at a dozen of Phoenix knights, knocking them into the air.

The two dropped their conversation as they focused more on their fight. After 15 minutes, Marceline began to grow impatient, "Ugh, this fight's going to be a drag if it keeps going on like this." She transformed into her giant bat form, "That's better, now we're getting somewhere."

The enemy knights near her location were immediately terrified and began to retreat further into the Slime Palace.

"FALL BACK! I REPEAT FALL BACK!" One knight screamed.

Muscle Princess raised her fist in the air, "They are weakening! Crush those fools with all your might!" She led the way as the others followed.

As the liberators advanced closer to the palace Jake and Marceline destroyed any fortifications that were in their way. Archer towers were quickly knocked over, ground catapult units were smashed, and outposts were demolished. Enemy infantry scrambled over each other as they attempted to regroup back towards the castle.

Finally, Marceline and Jake approached near the palace followed by their comrades. But as she flew closer to the palace wall, the unexpected happened.

"Ready... alright do it now!," ordered a Phoenix knight.

Moments later, several spotlights were lit at the Vampire Queen. She screamed in agony and quickly reverted back to her normal form. Then, she began to fall as the pain disrupted her control of flight.

"Marcy!" Jake shouted. Quickly he caught the disabled vampire in his hands and carried her to safety behind cover whilst dodging enemy fire, "You'll be ok, Marcy. You're gonna be ok."

She winced in pain, "Y-yeah... I'll live... I just need to sit this one out for a while... I'll get back into the fight soon."

Jake gave her a soft smile, "I know you will, Marcy. Just take it easy. You've done a lot to help us make it this far."

She nodded and then slowly closed her eyes to rest.

* * *

Back at the Breakfast Kingdom, banana and fire troops were still pinned down from the Phoenix's ground defenses. The smoke screen was already long gone from this point and the enemy began using their catapults with more precision. Fortunately, some of the liberation troops took down a few bunkers that they could use for cover while others would use the nearby trenches with small shelters.

"Stay down, men," ordered a fire captain. "Use the bunkers or foxholes as cover. It's not much, but it'll sure keep you from getting your head blown off!"

The ground shook as each blazing stone made its impact. Some of the attackers died from the blast radius while others were still shot from ricocheting arrows and fire blasts.

"Captain, what do we do," asked a fire knight.

"Hold this position, we need to wait for the rest of our reinforcements before we can advance."

"Yes sir," the knight nodded.

As the captain and his company hid behind cover, he noticed from a distance that there were some stray troops boldly charging towards the city wall. Some of them were hopelessly shooting crossbows and a few others were advancing with nothing but a flag of the either the Fire Kingdom or Candy Kingdom. "Gotta give those men some credit," he muttered to himself.

They continued to wait for a few minutes until one of the men announced, "Sir, command's said they can't send anymore backup! We're on our own!"

"Darn it," he looked away. Then he observed the rest of the defenses overhead, "Alright, form up. Here's what we're going to do: there are several ballista emplacements reinforced with archer nests. We take them out, our fire support can move forward. We'll focus on one at a time so I'm going to need one half to lay suppressing fire and the other half to flank them. Everyone understand?"

The men nodded collectively.

"Good, we'll move on my signal. Hold... Ok GO!"

They left the trenches and made a daring offensive as soon as the enemy barrage ceased momentarily to reload. Some men were lost, but overall they were successful in completing their objective. They were coordinated and worked well under pressure as they destroyed each of the Phoenix's defenses systematically.

"Good work, men. Friendly catapult units are inbound," the fire captain said.

The attackers have now gained an advantage. With the aid of their artillery, it would only take a matter of hours for the outer wall to be demolished. Fortunately, that wouldn't be the case since Flame Princess and her task force have just breached into the perimeter and disabled the remaining wall's defenses.

"Command, this is Flame Princess. Alpha squad has disabled the rest of the wall's defenses. You are clear to fire, over."

"Copy that, firing trebuchets."

Banana and fire troops pulled back as the bombardment commenced. A few minutes later, the wall surrounding the kingdom was completely destroyed. Everyone cheered as the enemy abandoned their posts and retreated further into the city.

Flame Princess radioed all units, "Everyone, you have all done a tremendous job. You have my appreciation and eternal gratitude for your efforts. We are almost there. For now, I want everyone to rest and set up defensive positions for a possible counterattack. Flame Princess out." She looked over to her friends who were battered with cuts and bruises, "Well, it took longer than expected but at least we did it."

"Yeah," Finn panted. "I can fight long as much as the next guy, but man that was exhausting!"

"I agree," Betty added. "The longest fight I ever had was when Finn and I freed Simon from the ice crown. This battle however, makes mine look like it was nothing!"

"Even with my ice powers, I was a bit surprised that those guys still put up a fight. You would think that using the opposite element would pose a significant advantage, but I guess the crown has its limits too," said Simon.

Bubblegum reached into one of her pouches from her battle suit, "I've synthesized some supplements back at the lab to restore our endurance. They taste sweet like candy, but just don't eat too much. Only take one every 6 hours for continual use."

Finn grabbed the first one, "Oh thanks, PB."

The others also grabbed one and thanked her altogether.

"Hey, it works! I feel like I can run to the palace and back if wanted too," Finn said.

Bubblegum chuckled, "That's great and all, but don't waste your energy. Remember, we need you and everyone else ready to fight in case they come back."

Finn nodded, "Of course, PB."

* * *

Jake dispatched the remaining Phoenix guards defending the Slime Palace wall. Once all the spotlights were destroyed, he and the others focused their attack by pummeling one section of the inner wall. When they finally stormed into the palace, the remaining Phoenix knights dropped their weapons and surrendered. The battle for the Slime Kingdom was drawing to a close and the princess of the said kingdom was freed from the dungeon.

Before they celebrated, they began to run a thorough inspection of the throne room. Unfortunately, there were no signs of Flame King's presence nor any of his council members.

"All clear!" One emerald knight shouted.

Everyone began to cheer and celebrate their victory. But they were quickly interrupted when Flame King appeared on a giant monitor screen, "Fools, I had no use for that poor excuse of a land you call a kingdom anyway. My forces merely captured it to instill fear and intimidation upon your hearts! Savor your victory now because it's the only one you'll ever get. I've got plans to shape Ooo in my image and you will all bear witness before my glory. And then when it is over, we can 'negotiate' for peace. Bwahahaha!"

The transmission ended in static as the signal disconnected. Jake and all the royals stared at the screen for a few moments to register everything in their minds.

"I've got to find Finn and the others," Jake said as began to leave.

"Not without me you're not," Marceline said as she suddenly appeared behind Jake. Usually in most instances Jake would have been terrified from her jump scare, but this time he flinched a little without screaming.

"Alright, Marcy." Then, he looked over at the princesses, "Any ideas where Finn and the others might be?"

"Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princess were leading a joint offensive over at the Breakfast Kingdom. That's probably your best bet," Emerald Princess answered. "Unfortunately, we cannot accompany you at this time. We have to stay and assist with the relief effort, not to mention that this kingdom must be protected temporarily in case the Phoenix Brigade shows up again. Chances are they won't, but you can't be too sure."

Jake nodded in acknowledgement, "I understand, we'll let Bubblegum know about this as soon as we get there. Later everyone."

They waved goodbye as the magical canine and Vampire Queen rushed towards the Breakfast Kingdom.


	20. An Uncertain Victory

Jake and Marceline arrived at the Breakfast Kingdom and met up with Finn and his other friends. After they greeted each other and learned about the Slime Kingdom's latest developments, Flame Princess informed them about the current situation.

"The Phoenix Brigade has pulled back deep into the city. Since there are no reports about any civilian presence near the area, we are clear to use our artillery units to draw out the enemy." Flame Princess then frowned, "While it is convenient for us to make it to the palace, that alone poses a problem."

"How so," asked Jake.

"The bad news is it's where all the bystanders are being held," FP replied. "We can demolish the palace easily within minutes, but I can't afford to be held accountable for my actions to purposely sacrifice an entire kingdom. I'm sure no one else in here would be willing to be remembered infamously for such a deed."

Everyone looked down and shook their heads.

FP continued, "But I assure you, since we're all here working together, we just might be able to overcome that obstacle, stop Flame King, and end this Grodforsaken war!"

The group nodded in approval with smiles.

"When do we start," Finn asked.

Flame Princess replied, "That depends, do you guys need to rest first?" She looked over to the rest of the group.

"I feel like we're literally close to ending this war, we might as well get this over with. Flame King's gotta be in there because we didn't find him at all in the Slime Kingdom," Jake answered.

"I agree, you said it bro," Finn and Jake fist-bumped.

"Well, you guys seem thrilled with the idea, so I'm in," Marceline added.

"Count us in too," Betty said as Simon and Bubblegum nodded.

Flame Princess smiled, "Very well, then it is decided. We'll ready up in 10 minutes. I'll see you all at the palace."

They made final preparations as they checked their weapons and armor. Simon, Betty, and Marceline conversed with each other to catch up on their personal life stories, while Jake and Bubblegum did the same elsewhere. Finn and Flame Princess on the other hand, spoke with each other privately in the command post tent.

"Something on your mind, Flame," Finn softly asked.

FP frowned and nodded, "Yeah, I'm just thinking about what Jake and Marceline told us earlier. For some reason, I was sort of expecting that the fight would be longer."

"What do you mean?"

"The Slime Kingdom was quickly liberated within hours. Then again, my father said he didn't really care about controlling it. And my analysts have informed me there were no resources that could benefit his armies whatsoever."

"So why go through all the trouble," Finn asked.

She thought for a few moments then narrowed her eyes, "To test our armies in combat. With that information known to him, he'll modify his defenses before we can reach him."

"We'll stop him, FP. Perhaps that explains why we've run into heavy resistance over here in the first place, because he's near."

"I guess, but now he knows our strengths and weaknesses."

"All the more reason not fight reckless in battle," Finn reassured with a smile.

FP arched an eyebrow, "Coming from you, that's funny."

He pouted, "Hey, that was a different time!"

She giggled, "I know, I'm just messing with you. You take things way too seriously sometimes."

Finn groaned as he placed a hand on his forehead, "Let's... just go FP."

* * *

The battle for Breakfast Kingdom was long and difficult. Even with the combined efforts of Finn and his friends, the Phoenix Brigade demonstrated their resilience by using some of their veterans. Unlike the recruits guarding the Slime Kingdom, these men were far more organized. They exploited the main heroes' weaknesses in their defensive tactics such as: using garlic-tipped arrows and gas grenades for Marceline, leaving piles of steak for Jake as a distraction, sending a concentrated group of alchemists to counter Simon's ice powers, and using liquid nitrogen-coated weapons for Flame Princess. Finn, Bubblegum, and Betty on the other hand, had to fight conservatively since most of the melee combatants anticipated their fighting styles.

After 8 long days of tenacious fighting, the heroes have reached the kingdom's Central Park. Had it not been for their involvement, the battle could have dragged on for months or worse, the war would have been lost quickly. Most of the city they retook was reduced to rubble and debris. Enemy ground forces were gradually losing control and the palace was actually in view several blocks away. Flame Princess's artillery rolled closer down the main street as they flushed the remaining defenders out from cover.

As the last Phoenix knight disappeared from the heroes' line of sight, Finn and his friends regrouped near the park's fountain. Several fire archers and banana guards assembled near the group securing the area. Once the park was deemed clear, Finn looked over to the direction of the palace.

Flame Princess stood behind him and placed a hand on his right shoulder, "We'll free them, Finn. We've come so far to lose it all now. This war is almost over."

He sighed, "I hope so, FP. Hopefully Breakfast Princess and the others are still ok." The two gazed at the distant kingdom briefly until Finn continued, "Perhaps when this is all said and done, maybe we can pick up from where we left off?"

She smiled warmly, "Certainly, Finn. But like you said earlier, we have our duties first. We'll have plenty of time to do whatever we want as soon as we finish this."

He nodded, "Of course, FP. So, what's our next course of action?"

She replied, "For now, I want you and everyone else to rest for tonight. The palace is within reach and I know my father's men will fight to the bitter end. It's going to be a long battle tomorrow so I'm counting on you to be in the best condition until then."

"I'm sure we're all counting on each other for the same thing. See you later." Finn retracted his silver sword as he walked back into a nearby cafe building which served as the new command post.

The others continued to talk to each other about planning their next strategy. With victory being within their grasp, Flame Princess emphasized how important it was to fight to their very best.

"Alright," FP concluded. "We'll continue on where we left off tomorrow. I'll help Finn catch up on the mission details and then we'll move out first thing in the morning. Good night everyone."

Meanwhile, Anthony and his younger brother Benji were sitting together with the other 18 knights in their squad.

"Well since we're almost done, do any of you guys have anything planned when we get back home," Anthony asked.

One knight named Dale responded, "Yeah, I plan on opening a buffet near the capital. It's going to have lights, music, and all the food you can possibly eat. Of course you guys can visit once the whole place is set up. Food's on me."

Another knight Samuels chuckled, "We appreciate it, man. But maybe you should keep Melvin over there from going. That guy will eat everything once he gets his hands on food." He leaned forward and mumbled, "He might even put your place out of business if he tries hard enough."

"Hey!"

The rest of the group laughed. Then, each member continued to share their personal ideas. Some of them talked about taking a vacation, one talked about retiring and setting up a ranch, and others thought about the idea of returning home with their families or perhaps finding someone to start their own families. The rest of the conversation overall was casual, laid back. Then, they said their goodnights and returned to their tents.

* * *

The next day, the knights of Alpha squad gathered for Flame Princess's mission briefing. Their first objective was to either capture or eliminate the communications building near the palace. Once that was dealt with, they can radio Ooo's united kingdoms for more reinforcements, while preventing the enemy from calling theirs. In addition, if they succeed in capturing it, they will be able to intercept Flame King's orders and bring themselves one step closer to a decisive victory.

"You heard the lady, let's move out," Anthony said.

They tightened their helmets and lead the charge towards their objective with the main force behind them.

"Remember," Flame Princess radioed. "We have at least an hour and 30 minutes to disable that communications building. If we can't capture it before then, we'll have to fall back and destroy it with an artillery strike. I don't want to dispatch all of our forces in completing this objective and then have no one left to storm the capital."

"Understood, my liege. Anthony out." He looked over to his brother, "Stay right behind me, Benji."

"I will," he nodded.

Capturing the communications building was indeed a challenge. The structure was fortified with several archer nests on the roof, through the windows, and on the ground. Rows of barbed wire surrounded the perimeter to slow down any advance. Fortunately, with Finn and his friends providing support, the task force managed to retake the building with at least 15 minutes to spare.

Bubblegum approached one of the radio stations and attempted to decipher the Phoenix Brigade's message. After a couple minutes, the candy monarch understood the enemy's next plan of attack. She told her friends she discovered that all nearby units will regroup at the capital, therefore confirming Flame King's presence. She also hacked into one of the data banks and downloaded the schematics of the palace's defenses.

"We'll have to act fast," Bubblegum advised. "The server just timed out and we have a short window until they make last minute adjustments to their defenses. Move!"

The heroes wasted no time. As they reached the outskirts of the palace, Flame Princess called her artillery units to open fire on certain sections of the building.

"My liege, you are aware there are civilians in the building," they asked.

"Trust me, the civilians will not be harmed from the strike. We have solid confirmation that no one except the enemy will be affected."

"Copy that, coordinates received. Firing for effect."

The palace building shook violently from the bombardment while the bystanders were safely underground from the collateral damage. This surprised the defenders as they expected their enemies to free their friends rather than sacrifice them.

"They're not destroying this place," Commander Dillon spoke out. "They've targeted our defenses so they can make it easier for themselves. In a few moments, we'll have every single one of them rushing towards our doorstep. I expect everyone to show no quarter and fight to the death."

"Sir, yes sir," the men shouted collectively.

The commander sneered, "If they're going capture this lousy capital, then let's make sure they work hard for it. Give 'em the Night-O-Sphere boys!"

Suddenly, the palace shook again and then the main entrance was blasted wide open. Although the remaining defenders were outnumbered, their ferocity in battle was far greater than the liberation forces and made them suffer high casualties. For every Phoenix knight that fell in battle, the liberators lost 5 of theirs. In the end, the defenders lost ground over time from exhaustion and from the heroes' intervention.

After 20 minutes of nonstop chaos, Finn and his allies lined up beside the main doors to the throne room.

"Ready," Finn whispered to Flame Princess.

She gave a sharp nod, "It ends today."

Their fellow knights set up charges on the doors and blew them out seconds later. The fighting lasted for 5 minutes with blood and weapons being thrown in the air. When the battle stopped, bodies from both sides were scattered all over the floor. Commander Dillon on the other hand, was leaning on his back against the wall. His armor was cracked and he was covered with his own magma blood.

Flame Princess was immediately enraged upon recognizing him, pulled him up and slammed him against the wall, "You?! I never would have expected you of all people to betray me. You were one of my best strategists!"

"(grunt) Indeed, but you never understood the big picture, 'your highness'. (cough-cough) The Fire Kingdom has always been known for its evil nature. It deserves to be given proper respect."

She clenched her teeth, "And by respect, you mean to be feared from all of our friends. That's not going to happen. That's not who we are anymore." She punched him in the stomach and knocked him down on the floor, "My sources have informed that this isn't everyone, so I'm going ask this once: Where are they and where is my father?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? Hahaha (cough-cough). Well, since my wound is fatal I might as well tell you everything. You are right, this isn't everyone... We had at least 5 million troops from the beginning and your father left only 1/3 of his forces to defend this and the Slime Kingdom. Of course we made sure half of that amount defended each kingdom evenly."

She frowned, "And how could you have possibly hidden such an army undetected or even provide the resources to sustain them?"

He smiled crookedly, "Simple, we've used the Dark Forests as our base of operations. It is known to be a cursed region due to its magical properties with one of them being able to disrupt any technological readings within the vicinity. You may also know this as the 'Dead Zone'. (cough) Anyway, some of our members in the Brigade were formerly dark wizards and they helped us make the region habitable for our comfort. And of course, if you or anyone else read the papers, you would have noticed the Grocery Kingdom being listed as one of the top 3 richest kingdoms. But who has time to read anyway, hehe."

Flame Princess materialized a flame sword and pointed it towards his chest, "Enough, I said I won't ask again."

The wounded elemental chuckled, "Ah yes, the most important question. (cough) Alright... let's just say he and the others are back where it all began. In fact... your father actually wanted you to have this." He pulled out a blue sphere-like device.

"GRENADE! GET DOWN!" one knight shouted.


	21. Closer to Home

**AN**: This takes place around the same time during the battle for the Breakfast Kingdom, but ends in the present from the previous chapter.

* * *

It was just an ordinary day at the Fire Kingdom. The guards made their patrols, the citizens followed marshal law, and the fire wolves ran amok the outskirts. So far, there were no reports about any suspicious activity and life at the kingdom was mundane. Little did the citizens know, however that their lives were about to change drastically for the worse.

Somewhere at about 20 miles from the kingdom's capital, there was a large storage yard facility used to keep food reserves, clothing, and any other essential items in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. Today, it was going to be used for harboring at least 3 million troops with tons of heavy weaponry.

"Ok boys, this place will be closing in 30 minutes," the foreman announced. "Please be sure to check all your personal belongings and don't forget to clock out."

Suddenly, a large column of convoy trucks approached the yard's gateway entrance, much to the foreman's chagrin.

"Ugh," he pinched his nose. "I can't stand it when there's a last minute shipment. I just want to go home back to my wife, eat my dinner, sleep, and then repeat the whole cycle for the rest of my life. (sigh)"

Two security guards at the front gate approached the leading truck driver, "State your business."

The driver produced a set of papers, "We're here to make another last minute delivery from the Grocery Kingdom. I already have a seal of approval."

The guard at the driver's window examined the documents then nodded, "Proceed."

The foreman let out a deep sigh, "Oh alright, just drop off those shipping containers over there. We'll sort them out tomorrow first thing in the morning." He pulled out his phone to notify his wife and boss about working overtime and then continued his business.

Finally, after a few hours, the last cargo container was stored away. The workers dusted their hands together from all the hard work. Dealing with freight was a serious business especially since the citizens depended on them for trade and supplies.

"This better be worth it," the leading worker grumbled.

"Of course, it is. This is a noble cause to make sure your people will never go hungry. Think of the children," the leading deliveryman said sympathetically.

He nodded quickly, "Yeah, yeah I'm just tired." Then he signaled his coworkers, "Alright, let's book it."

The convoy left on its way to return to the Grocery Kingdom, while the freight workers went home. Most of the lights on the campus were dimmed at this point and a small security detail remained for the late night shift.

"Man, this blows," one guard complained. "There's nothing to do here but stare at the cameras all night!"

"You said it, but how else are we going to provide coal on the table," another replied.

"I know, I know. But still, one reason I signed up for this was to get some action."

Suddenly, the monitors beeped which detected unidentified movement from several shipping crates. One of the guards looked at the indicator, "It's coming from the cargo the Grocery Kingdom delivered."

"Somebody's tampering with it?"

He frowned, "No, it's coming from the inside. Whatever it is, it's not food." Then his face paled upon observing the camera feed, "Maybe you should have been careful for what you wished for."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm staring at a massive invasion force." He looked over to another guard, "Tell the palace that we've spotted the Phoenix Brigade. We're gonna need all the help we can get down here."

Just as the third guard reached for the landline, the door to the entrance was kicked open and all three guards were stealthily wiped out from a volley of arrows.

"Sir, the last security checkpoint has been eliminated. The kingdom does not know of our presence yet, over," a Phoenix commando radioed.

Flame King responded, "Copy that, maintain overwatch of the facility. Keep me posted if you spot anything suspicious. Out."

The invaders quickly assembled their forces in an orderly fashion. After a couple hours, the last artillery reserves rolled out of containers. The army was poised for battle, and now they eagerly waited for their leader's next command: **attack**.

The former monarch gathered his company's attention, "Ok, everyone. Listen up. We're going to assemble all of our forces and retake the palace first. Once we raise our flag atop of the castle, it'll stir mass hysteria and greatly demoralize enemy resistance. Now, most of my daughter's forces have been diverted away from this land, so this should be an easy operation. I expect all of you to give me 110%. Do you get me?"

"Sir, yes sir!" they said collectively.

FK smiled, "Good, let's move out."

* * *

"Code Red! We are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack," one loyalist knight screamed.

The Fire Kingdom palace was under siege for the third time in recent history. The defenders fought with all the strength and courage they could muster, but it wasn't enough. The Phoenix Brigade had better fighters with the addition of sheer numbers. No matter how much the palace was fortified, the place was still overrun. Large sections of the building were smoldering in ruins from artillery, but the overall structure remained intact.

"Cinnamon Bun, our palace defenses are down! The enemy will be storming this place within minutes. What do we do, sir?" a defender asked.

He thought for a long moment until he decided, "Fall back into the city... There's too many of them to handle."

"Sir?!"

He took a deep breath, "We'll have a better chance at survival when we regroup with Flame Princess and her allies. Right now, saving the people is far more important. What good is a kingdom if there is no one left to govern? I'm ordering all available units to assist the evacuation immediately."

"Y-yes sir. Come on, people let's go!"

In no time at all, CB and the remaining palace defenders used an express underground pathway that led them directly to downtown. Hundreds of thousands of citizens dragged all their belongings and crowded several bridges that bordered the city limits. Dozens of military checkpoints were quickly established down the main streets in a desperate effort to stall the invader's advance.

"Cinnamon Bun, have you managed to contact Flame Princess and the others for help yet?"

CB looked over to the loyalist, "Something is jamming our signal for the moment. I'll keep on trying, but we need to keep the enemy at bay as long as possible in the meantime."

As the knight nodded, the pastry looked at most of the civilians who were leaving in a huge frenzy. He noticed that there were some children crying with their families as the sounds of distant explosions echoed throughout the land. Then, he noticed from a distance that the palace was hoisting the flag of the Phoenix Brigade along with some banners draping down the front balconies of the building.

"Such chaos," he said to himself. "We could **really **use some help right about now."

A few moments later, another knight approached him, "Sir, we'll need more time to evacuate!"

"Ok, give me a moment," he observed his surroundings then snapped his fingers and grabbed a map from a nearby table. "Here's what we're going to do: I want demolition teams to blow up these tall business buildings in these following areas. We do that, it'll bottleneck the enemy which should give us all the time we need. Make sure you check for bystanders first before proceeding. Now move!"

The loyalists bowed at his command and began to sprint to their designated areas. Minutes passed and the charges were set.

"All clear," one of them asked.

"All clear," another confirmed.

"Fire in the hole!"

The tall, complex buildings collapsed one by one forming dust clouds from debris. As a result, large piles of rubble obstructed the main roads. Just as CB anticipated, enemy forces at this point would have a hard time sending their artillery support.

"Hopefully that should buy us enough time. Now all we can do is pray for the best. Grod help us," CB said.

Flame King observed the destruction from the front balcony of the palace, "(sigh) So much for a swift takeover. But, it makes no difference. This battle is ours already." He looked over to his second in command, "Ramirez, go forth and find an alternate route for our fire support. We cannot let any more of our traitors escape, so use whatever means necessary to destroy those bridges."

In an instant, he jumped off the balcony and used his fire abilities to control his decent and landed on one of the fire wolves below. His squad, the Crimson Gauntlet followed him in the same fashion moments later. Once everyone was ready, they galloped towards the closest evacuation site with the main force right behind them.


	22. Heartbreak Bridge

"Everyone alright," Finn wearily asked as he dusted himself. His eyes wandered the ground for a while until he found his red silver blade nearby.

The throne room of the Breakfast Kingdom was partially covered in frost from Dillon's grenade.

"Flame Princess is fine. She was shielded at the last instant the cryo grenade went off," a fire knight responded. Then he looked down, "We lost Dale and Samuels."

Finn tightened his fists, "We've lost too many good men. Flame King has taken it too far this time!" Then he looked down, "What about Breakfast Princess and the others? Are they ok?"

"Yes, sir. She and the others are well and accounted for."

"Good. Now then, what did that jerk mean when he said they were back from where it began?"

"They're at the Fire Kingdom," FP said as she regained consciousness and got up. Finn rushed to her side and helped her stand.

"I need a medic over here," he ordered.

Two knights quickly approached and began treating her wounds. Luckily, Flame Princess suffered only minor injuries that she quickly recovered. Then she pulled out her phone and called Cinnamon Bun, "CB, are you there?"

"Flame Princess?! Great to hear from you! Listen, we need you and everyone else to return back to the Fire Kingdom as soon as possible. Your father's brought the whole Grod-darn army and we're holding them off as we speak!"

"What?! CB that's suicidal, just get everyone out of there!"

"Already ahead of you, your highness. But you must hurry! I don't know how long we can-(static)"

"CB? CB!" Flame Princess hung up with a panicked expression. "Ok, breathe," she thought to herself. She looked back from her memories when she practiced meditation. After a few moments, she regained her composure and told one of her generals, "Contact our allies from the Slime Kingdom and tell them to rendezvous over at the Grasslands."

"It shall be done, my lady," the general bowed.

She looked over to the rest of the group, "It turns out that my father staged a ruse to draw us far away from the Fire Kingdom. Now, I know that it will take everyone several hours to move. However, some of us have faster methods of travel but we can bring only 3 knights. Do I have any volunteers?"

Anthony, Benjamin, and Hartsock stepped up.

FP nodded, "It is decided. We'll fly back towards the kingdom and get our guys out. Saving the people is our top priority. Once we're out, we'll meet all of you back at the borderline of the Grasslands."

Flame Princess, Finn, and Hartsock mounted on Jake 2, while the other two knights rode with Simon and Betty on their magical carpet, Bubblegum summoned Marrow, while Jake stretched himself into a giant to cover more ground, and Marceline used her powers of flight. Quickly, they arrived at their destination in 15 minutes.

The Fire Kingdom was utterly devastated. Pillars of black smoke billowed from the background that shrouded the city in darkness. The only sources of light that were shown were pools of lava, the fire elementals, and the massive flames cast from Flame King's destruction. Screams and shouts echoed across the land as Finn and the others observed the horizon.

"My Glob, it's worse than before," Finn thought.

His train of thought was broken when Flame Princess gained his attention, "Come on, Finn. Let's not waste anymore time. We need to rescue CB and any survivors that may still be trapped in the city. Move!"

He gave his head a couple shakes to overcome the horrific vision he saw before his very eyes. Then, he and the others rushed into what seemed like the essence of fire and brimstone.

* * *

Back at one of the evacuation sites, some of the radio stations were audible over the speakers, "Good afternoon, Ooo. We're back and you're listening to 104.7 Pre-War Classics on the radio, and we have a special request from one of our callers. Song name is "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane (**disclaimer: I don't own the song or the band**). Stay classy, and be sure to lock your doors and keep your windows shut. Peace!"

_One pill makes you larger_

_And one pill makes you small_

_And the ones that mother gives you_

_Don't do anything at all_

_Go ask Alice_

_When she's ten feet tall_

_And if you go chasing rabbits_

_And you know you're going to fall_

_Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar_

_Has given you the call_

_Call Alice_

_When she was just small_

_When the men on the chessboard_

_Get up and tell you where to go_

_And you've just had some kind of mushroom_

_And your mind is moving low_

_Go ask Alice_

_I think she'll know_

_When logic and proportion_

_Have fallen sloppy dead_

_And the White Knight is talking backwards_

_And the Red Queen's off with her head_

_Remember what the dormouse said_

_Feed your head_

_Feed your head_

* * *

As the song ended, the loyalists were shooting relentlessly from the archer nests they set up at the military checkpoints.

"I need more arrows," one gunner shouted.

"Reloading, cover me," another troop shouted.

The defenders were effectively holding off the enemy infantry until a couple of fire golems charged at them.

"Fall back, fall back into the next checkpoint!"

As the defenders left their post, some of them were shot down from enemy fire, while others were pummeled from the hulking juggernauts. Despite the fact that the Phoenix Brigade gained more ground over time, some of the bystanders picked up a spear, a crossbow, or even rocks in an act of defiance. The Brigade admired them for their futile efforts for the moment, but continued to slaughter them with extreme prejudice. With another blockade overrun, the remaining defenders quickly assembled with the others at the next hardpoint.

It was the same routine for the loyalists as they continued a fire-and-retreat tactic. Sometimes when they regrouped at the next location, they would be fortunate enough to last longer thanks to the addition of ballista emplacements which could decimate large enemy units.

Suddenly, a wave of fire golems approached the area and began to tear through the next line of defense. Before they could get the chance, however Finn and his friends showed up in the nick of time. The enemy was stunned by this unexpected arrival and began to withdraw temporarily.

"Thanks for the save, guys. But they'll be back soon," the squad leader said.

"Don't mention it," Finn said. "Where's Cinnamon Bun?"

"He and his team were cut off somewhere downtown about 5 minutes from here. You better hurry!"

Finn and the others rushed through the intersections as trash and debris littered the streets. Finally, they discovered the next checkpoint was currently under fire with a wounded Cinnamon Bun clutching his stomach behind cover. His lancer was resting beside his lap.

Flame Princess ran up to him and gave him a light hug, "CB!"

He gave a weak smile, "Flame Princess, Finn, you guys all came for me."

Bubblegum nodded, "That's right Cinnamon Bun. We're getting you out of here. Just stay low and we'll take care of the rest."

He nodded as his friends repealed the enemy advance. Soon the Phoenix knights decided to withdraw which left the area with an eerie silence.

Finn looked back over at CB and noticed there were some defenders clutching their sides in agony, "Ok everyone, let's get the wounded out of here first. They've done their job, now we do ours." He and the others loaded them onto Jake, Jake 2, and Betty's carpet. After they were done, there was no more room remaining for Finn, Anthony, Benji, and Hartsock.

FP was bewildered by this upon realization, "Finn..."

He briskly approached her, firmly grabbed her biceps, and stared straight into her eyes, "I'll be right behind you, Flame. I'll see you on the other side, ok? I love you." They smashed their lips together with their eyes squeezed shut. Then, Finn backed away and kissed the gem adorned on her forehead, "Now go, FP! Save your people!"

She wiped her eyes from any stray tears she had and flew away with the rest of the group. With Finn and the 3 knights remaining, it was a race against time to evacuate the kingdom.

"Come on, let's get moving! I can already hear the enemy prepping for another attack," Hartsock said.

No one cared to object as they sprinted to the closest bridge. As they ran, volleys of arrows and fire blasts ricocheted past their sides and above their heads. In addition, enemy golems lodged chunks of debris near their location, disorienting the group.

After what seemed like an eternity, Finn and the remaining knights finally made it to the city limits. They quickly regained their breath as the now empty bridge was only 10 feet away. What was unusual, however was when the shooting stopped and that the enemy abandoned their pursuit.

"I can't believe we made it, major," Anthony exclaimed.

"Me neither," he replied skeptically with his eyes narrowed. "Something doesn't feel right."

"Well, I don't want to stick around and find out," Finn said.

They continued to run across the highway bridge until something occurred at the halfway point: Anthony's head was blown clean off. As his decapitated body collapsed on the ground, the others stopped completely in shock.

"NOOO!" Benji cried out. Then he pulled out his crossbow and began shooting back at the enemy infantry that seemingly appeared from behind out of nowhere. "You killed my brother, you freakin' bastards!" One by one, each Phoenix archer fell from Benji's blinded rage until he claimed at least a dozen lives. Then, he was nicked in his left shoulder and fell on his back grunting in pain.

"Come on, Benji," Hartsock pulled him up. "You can avenge your brother another day. Don't let it be in vain and die here too!"

Benji was back on his feet, holding his shoulder, "(grunt) Ok, I'm moving..." He continued to run across the bridge with the others.

Suddenly, the shooting stopped again. The group turned back at a glance to discover the enemy was just watching them with murderous intent. Then, as they looked away from them, Finn and his comrades noticed a lone Phoenix knight standing in front them several feet away with the same expression.

"We can take this joker," Benji hissed.

Hartsock had a gut feeling that he recognized the soldier. As he met his gaze with his own, the officer realized who he was. The major calmly spoke to the young knight, "Son, whatever you do. Do not engage him. There's more to him than you think. Finn and I will deal with him while you make a break for it. Understand?"

He was about to object until he saw the major's face that showed he wasn't up for arguing. Then, he reluctantly nodded.

"Good, wait for my go," the major pulled out his sword as Finn did the same.

"Who is he," Finn whispered.

"That man right over there is **Ramirez**. The legendary soldier of the Fire Kingdom known to be unconditionally loyal to Flame King. He is the one known to 'do everything' because his majesty would always call his name in favor out of all the men at his disposal. He's carried out hundreds of suicidal missions that make traveling the Night-O-Sphere look like a walk in the park. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if one them actually involved going there to begin with."

Finn frowned, "Why haven't I heard of him back then?"

"His reputation only inspires people that are fanatical to Flame King. That, and he was thought to be dead 5 years ago after he disappeared. When Flame Princess took control, she made sure it was forbidden to openly discuss such a figure because it could lead to anarchy. He truly is inspirational among his kind."

"And now he's finally out of the shadows trying to kill us," Finn concluded.

"Exactly. Don't underestimate him, Finn."

Ramirez's red eyes continued to stare down at the trio with utter disdain. Finally, he tightened his fists, cracked his neck, and then drew out a black broadsword with his right hand. Seconds later, he used his powers to ignite the entire blade with a dark purple flame. He closed his eyes ominously for a brief moment, channeling his inner energies. Then, he opened his now fiery purple eyes and charged at the three of them with blinding speed.

Finn and Hartsock immediately began to fight on the defensive. Benji on the other hand was knocked over from the charge stunned from the sudden impact.

"Go, get out of here," Hartsock roared.

With reinvigorated adrenaline, the young soldier quickly crossed the bridge as fast as his legs could carry. While his nightmare ended, Finn and Hartsock's has just begun.

* * *

Finn was the first one to get knocked backwards after Ramirez performed a spinning kick on the head. As Finn tried to recover, his ally was struggling to block every attack. He noticed that when the fight progressed, Ramirez kept fighting more aggressively, each blow being harder than the next.

"He's going to burn out real fast if he keeps this up," Finn thought. But, his assumption was quickly shot down when he realized his enemy showed no signs of fatigue. He quickly ran towards Hartsock only for Ramirez to use shoot a fire blast on the ground that temporarily blinded Finn. With the human unable to help once again, the Phoenix elemental focused all his energies and began to break through Hartsock's defense. Moments later, he parried a blow from the major and swiftly delivered a searing slash across the mid-left section of the torso.

The major gritted his teeth in excruciating pain. He leaned on his left side as a reflex to keep the incision from tearing further. Unfortunately, his opponent continued the offensive by tripping him with a circle drop kick. As the major flew in midair, Ramirez flipped his sword using the reverse grip. Once the wounded elemental landed on his back, Ramirez swiftly descended with his right knee on the ground along with blade and impaled him directly through the heart.

Finn was shocked, he had just witnessed another friend get killed before him. Then, righteous anger coursed through his veins and Finn began to fight aggressively.

Ramirez decided to fight conservatively from that instant to gage his adversary's fighting style. He was slightly impressed that Finn was able to match his speed and agility. Then after a few moments, the Phoenix fighter decided to go on the offensive again and delivered a vicious, right uppercut slash. Finn managed to deflect the hit, but this caused him to stumble backwards and drop his guard. Noticing this, the fire elemental withdrew his sword, leaned forward, then rammed Finn with his shoulders which sent him flying backwards at least 10 feet.

As Finn tried to shrug off the pain, he noticed that his opponent was already leaping towards him to deliver a two-handed, vertical sword smash. The human quickly rolled to the right on instinct. Once Ramirez missed, Finn used the Shadow Thrust only for his rival to evade with a combat roll.

The duelists began to slash at each other gradually building speed. As they gained more momentum, their swords and movements began to blur out. Finally, they stopped at a power exchange. Their blades gridded against each other as they stared at each other ferociously.

Unfortunately, before a winner could be decided, the bridge was suddenly collapsing from a sudden artillery strike. It turned out that there was a miscommunication from one of the Phoenix catapult crews that they were mistakenly ordered to destroy the bridge. Enraged with disappointment, Ramirez used his powers to teleport into a small pillar of flames and then reappeared back at the end with his comrades.

Finn on the other hand, ran as fast as he could to the other side. His escape was cut off, however when the bridge suddenly split in front of him. Shock and despair were etched on the young man's face. He looked below to discover the fall was at least a couple hundred feet with a sea of lava. Then, the bridge portion he stood on began to tip over in the same direction he was facing. Quickly, he turned around and attempted to run the opposite direction, but it was too late.

His life flashed before his eyes: he remembered most of his adventures he shared with Jake, the friendships he forged in Ooo, and most importantly the memories he shared with Flame Princess. He cursed to himself that he broke his promise about seeing her again. He wished for a lot of things from that moment like proposing to FP, growing old together, and perhaps even starting a family. Sadly, such a reality would only exist in a fantasy.

He was preoccupied with so much regret and self-pity that he didn't even realize his body splashed into the fiery ocean.


	23. Aftermath

Benji continued his sprint out of the Fire Kingdom as he overhead a certain bridge collapsing from behind. Then, as he left the outskirts, he finally met up with the rest of the Loyalist Army stationed at the borderline of the Grasslands.

"Sir, I spotted a friendly," a guard said as he looked through his telescope. "He looks like he's wounded too."

"Get a medic and bring him in," another guard ordered.

A small group of knights escorted Benji moments later. Soon, he was lying down in one of the hospital tents with a bandage cloth wrapped around his left shoulder. His mind was numb from all the emotional pain he experienced. The young soldier looked back from his memories at a time when his older sibling would always watch over him and their mother. Then, his memories recalled his brother's last moments. He silently cried to himself as the patients around him were either sedated or groaning in pain.

After a while, Flame Princess and the rest of her friends decided to check on him. They were all anxious, especially Flame Princess to learn about Finn and Hartsock's whereabouts.

The young knight only expressed a fresh set of tears when he told everyone the events that happened on the bridge, "That's all I know. Finn and Hartsock were last seen on the bridge, fighting Ramirez. Then, I heard it collapse sometime later after I crossed." His lips trembled, "I-I'm sorry, y-your majesty."

The monarch's heart was devastated upon hearing such news. But from that moment, she kept her composure, "You've done all you could. Rest, Benji and I'm sorry about your brother."

He nodded his head as he wiped his eyes.

Flame Princess briskly walked on her way back to her personal quarters. She ignored all the faces that exchanged glances at her. Nobody was clueless, they knew something bothered her tremendously and didn't dare to stand in her way. Once she arrived at her tent, FP collapsed on the bed, crying hysterically.

"It's all my fault," she said to herself. "I should have stayed behind, why didn't I?"

"Because Finn wanted to make sure you were safe to guide your people," her conscious countered.

"Darn that noble heart of his! You know what, I should have killed my father back when he escaped the second time from prison. But, I was gutless," she said bitterly.

"You were not gutless, you did what was right at the time so that you wouldn't lose your morality. You did it so you could prove to everyone, especially your father that you were not evil."

"Maybe I should have sacrificed my morality from that instant. Thousands of lives would have been saved, the Breakfast and Slime Kingdoms wouldn't be endangered, Benji wouldn't have lost his brother, and... Finn would still be right with me."

"NO! You're wrong, Flame Princess. If you compromised yourself, you would have spiraled into a darker future. Sure, you could be right about those things, but at what cost? By doing so, you could have put your entire civilization and other kingdoms at risk. No one would want to negotiate with your people and they could have waged war. Worse, you'll be lost in your judgement. You may not even care anymore about making the wrong choices and you'll become the one person you've come to hate: your father."

"But, Finn would have at least still been alive. He could help me change from my ways from that instant, work something out."

"You can't count on that entirely. Finn only showed you the way. He could go up to certain lengths to try and change you back. However, it is ultimately up to yourself if you choose to be who you are."

Flame Princess's sobbing began to subside. Then she said to herself, "You're right, I won't abandon my character and let his efforts be in vain. Now, what should I do?"

Her conscious replied, "The rest of the main force will arrive here in a couple of hours and your father's forces will fortify themselves in the meantime. Grieve now if you must, but when backup arrives, be strong for your people. They'll need you now more than ever."

She nodded to herself, "Alright." Then, her sobbing stopped completely and she bowed her head.

* * *

Everyone in the Phoenix Brigade knew Ramirez was always angry, but this time it was different. He was infuriated with the fact his duel with Finn was interrupted from his own comrades. During his fight, he realized Finn proved himself to be a worthy opponent. Few people have managed to hold their ground for a long time against the legendary soldier and the human was no exception.

As the silent warrior looked back at his thoughts, his squad members of the Crimson Gauntlet presented him a dozen men. They were the crew members of the artillery units who were responsible for interrupting Ramirez's fight. He glared at his former comrades ominously with his arms crossed. Everyone knew, including the prisoners, that interfering with a duel was capital punishment.

"Ramirez, we're really sorry! We didn't know that you were on the bridge," one soldier pleaded

The superior vaporized him with a plasma blast from his right hand.

Another pleaded, "Please sir, you have to understand. It was an accident!"

He was also vaporized.

One by one each crew member was met with the same execution. The leader satisfied his blood lust as he continued to ignore the men begging. Finally, one member of the crew remained. It was the officer who was in charge of the deceased company. His eyes were wide with fear and his knees shook tremendously. This only aggravated Ramirez even more because he expected the officer to be the bravest and die with dignity.

Suddenly, Ramirez lowered his hand. It seemed like he wanted the officer to live in torment with his mistakes. But, that wasn't the case as he approached him moments later and began to choke him with one hand.

The officer was lifted off the ground gasping for breath. As his eyes met Ramirez's, he noticed the eyes changed to a fiery purple. Then, a split second later, the officer's body was hanging limp.

Ramirez wasn't done, however. As soon as he dropped the body, he began to raise his right hand in the air wide open to charge his energy. Once he summoned enough, he formed his right hand into a fist and punched downwards at the corpse. A bright purple light blinded the men watching the execution temporarily. Once the act was over, the men noticed that the only trace that remained from the officer was just his helmet. However, that was also destroyed as Ramirez crushed it with his foot effortlessly as he walked away.

His eyes returned to their normal red color and the purple flames engulfing his body dissipated. He felt a slight relief that he unleashed his wrath on those responsible. Still though, he was disappointed with himself that his duel with Finn would be forever left unsettled. The large audience immediately cleared a path for him as he returned to the palace with his squad following him.

"Alright, people. Show's over. Get back to work," one officer ordered.


	24. The Long Trek

"Flame Princess," Betty asked.

"Yes," she said wearily.

"May I come in?"

FP nodded, "Of course."

Simon's wife approached the depressed elemental and sat next to her on the bed, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, I could use your help," FP said with her eyes red from crying.

Betty wrapped an arm around the elemental's shoulders, "We all could, FP. But I had a strong feeling you would be taking this harder than everyone else."

From that instant, FP hugged her best friend, "It's awful, Betty! Finn and I faced so many obstacles together and now... he's gone."

Betty returned the hug, just listening.

FP continued, "He promised me right then and there that he would be behind me. I heard him say it and you did too, right?"

"Yes, Flame Princess."

"He was so fixated on protecting me that he didn't even protect himself. I'm losing it, Betty. Even though I've reasoned myself to be strong for my people, my heart still aches."

The two broke the hug and gave each other some space.

Betty adjusted her glasses, "You can't expect yourself to brush this off easily. In fact, no one can. We have all grown so close to him that it's hitting us really hard. His brother, Jake for instance, just eats his food and then goes to sleep right after. Marceline plays a mellow tune with her ax bass all day, silently crying. Bubblegum's in denial, trying to figure out if he's alive somehow. As for my husband and I, we are torn about Finn's... absence because he brought us together after so many years."

FP wiped her eyes, "Despite everything that we're all going through right now, I guess my heritage as a proud people has given me some strength to move forward, and it was especially Finn who showed me the way to never give up."

Betty nodded, "I'm glad that I was able to talk to you about this."

"Me too, Betty. Right now, all that matters is stopping my father. I don't want to be selfish and dwell on my own depression especially since everyone's counting on me."

"Remember, Flame Princess. We're all family, we're in this together, one way or another."

FP nodded, then got up with her best friend, "Well, we better get ready. The rest of our allies will be here shortly. Let's get Jake and the others together so we can sort ourselves out as a whole."

* * *

It had been 2 dreadful weeks after Flame King's hostile takeover of the Fire Kingdom. Ooo's liberation forces have long returned from the Slime and Breakfast Kingdoms. In addition, the Lemongrab and Jungle Kingdoms have joined the fight to put down Flame King's oppressive regime. However, even with the support of additional troops, the liberation forces continued to struggle against the Phoenix Brigade. With the main bridges to the Fire Kingdom destroyed, the liberators had to travel around the landscape into foreign territory.

Flame Princess guided her allies across the land, having essential knowledge of her home terrain. The information she provided limited complications of travel. Still though, there were some hinderances such as wild fire wolf attacks, and sometimes the ground would be uneven that immobilized catapult units. Dehydration and heat exhaustion also posed as a problem for non fire elementals. There were several cases when the fire-proof hazmat suits would malfunction, or when the flame shields would break beyond their limit. As a result, around 2,500 liberation troops died.

If the land alone wasn't enough for Ooo's forces, they also suffered from guerrilla warfare tactics. The Phoenix Brigade was in home territory and they used the environment to their advantage. Every so often, Flame King's forces would engage in short skirmishes. One of their methods included the foot soldiers submerging themselves in nearby lava springs, while the golems hid in plain sight with the rocks. They also had several areas marked for mortar strikes whenever Flame Princess and her allies stumbled across them.

Despite the frequent setbacks, Flame Princess and her friends have helped their ground forces prevail. By actively intervening in combat, the main heroes have minimized casualties to 1,200 rather than suffering possibly at least four times that amount. Slowly but surely, the main force was gaining ground.

As the main city of the Fire Kingdom became more visible in the distant horizon, Flame Princess and the rest of her company decided to set up base one more time. From there, the city limits was merely 15 minutes away. In between were several enemy outposts fortified with hundreds of infantry.

"Man, this has been some hectic trip," Jake commented.

"Yeah, what's funny is that all of us can travel to the palace directly, but it will be only us," Marceline said a bitter laugh.

Bubblegum agreed, "We'll need all the support to win this war. There are just too many to handle head on if we go by ourselves with the direct approach."

Simon looked over to his wife, "How are you feeling?"

Betty replied, "I'm fine, my flame shield seems to be holding out. Good thing I have a good grasp on magic. What about you?"

"My crown is helping me stay cool under this heat, but I can't risk using it's powers too much for comfort or else I won't have enough power to last long in combat."

She showed a concerned look, "Please don't exert yourself. If your crown is already struggling to keep you comfortable, then just let me know when to cast a flame shield for you. Actually, now that I think about it. I want you to remove your crown whenever we're not fighting, ok?"

Simon nodded, "As you wish."

Elsewhere in the camp, the knights of Alpha squad were sitting together conversing.

"(sigh) I'm sick of this stinkin' war. I just wish we could waltz into the palace and end this already," one of them said.

"Me too, at first I thought it would be exciting, but now I realize that war is just brutal. I never would have understood the extent of such a horrible concept until I experienced it firsthand," said another.

"By the way, anyone know where Benji is?"

The group looked around until they saw he was sitting alone with his head down, "Yeah, he's over there by himself. His brother's passing is still hitting him hard."

"I remember when Benji used to be the most energetic of the group. It bothers me that he doesn't talk much like he used to. It feels a little... nerve-wracking."

Then, Melvin checked his watch and announced, "I'll take care of him. In the meantime, let's get some shut eye while we still can."

* * *

"Go, go, go," an officer shouted. He and his company were charging at one of the Phoenix outposts that shot hundreds of arrows in his direction. Some of the defenders were settled in a few trenches several feet in front of the bunkers. The attackers on the other hand tried to protect themselves again by using their shields. They also threw in a few smoke grenades to cover their advance. However, men were still lost as arrows pierced through their legs and feet. In addition, the outposts had artillery support and continued to claim several lives even with limited visibility.

The battle lasted for several days and the liberation troops endured heavy losses. Some of them experienced a swift death from either a fatal shot or explosion, while others had their hazmat suits punctured and suffered an agonizing death. But in the end, the attackers persisted and finally breached through the defenses. Taking over the trench network was a crucial advantage and the remaining Phoenix knights eventually withdrew back into the city.

Flame Princess and her friends observed the main city in the distance from a vantage point. "This isn't over," she said. "The real battle starts once we storm those walls."

"Do you still think we'll be able to pull this off," Jake asked.

"We have to. If we don't stop Flame King here, then there will be no one left to defend all of Ooo," Bubblegum said.

Suddenly, Flame Princess received an incoming transmission from one of her troops, "My liege, we have taken over the last fire base. Friendly artillery units will move in and commence bombardment at the wall in 24 hours, over."

"Understood. Anything else to report?"

"We also have a lone Phoenix knight detained. What was unusual was that he tried to surrender without incident."

FP frowned, "That's strange. What is the condition of the prisoner?"

The soldier responded nervously, "He's... uh currently unconscious at the moment. One of our friendlies knocked him out before we can extract information from him."

She groaned in disappointment, "(sigh) Make sure the prisoner gets treated for medical attention and then have him restrained for interrogation. I would also like to speak with the one who harmed the prisoner. He is to be escorted to my quarters immediately for disciplinary action."

"By your command."

Thirty minutes later, Benji arrived at Flame Princess's tent with 4 guards surrounding him in a box formation. The fire monarch's demeanor instantly faded and she let out a deep sigh, "You? I didn't expect you to be the one responsible. Why did you do it?"

The young knight looked down ashamed, "I'm sorry, ma'am. I was caught up in the moment that I couldn't help myself."

She motioned the guards to leave and then continued, "I know your brother's loss is still bothering you and you want to avenge him, am I right?"

"...Yes, ma'am."

"Look I know how you're feeling. I lost someone who was very close to me on that bridge too. But, we are not the Phoenix Brigade. We do not harm our prisoners especially in war. That man may have all the knowledge we could use to turn the tide in our favor."

"I'm sorry ma'am. I won't let it happen again."

She briefly gave him a reassuring smile, "I forgive you, Benji. I'm not asking you to forget about your brother, but I am asking you to think before you act. That kind of behavior will only endanger your comrades and yourself. As of now, you are hereby given a fair warning, but if you fight out in the field with a clouded judgement and disobey my orders again, I will personally pull you away from the front lines. Understand?"

He meekly bowed, "Yes, your majesty."

"You are dismissed, Benji. And also, consult with your friends. Don't let your emotions bottle up inside you. It will only destroy your heart and mind from the inside. Go get some rest now, ok?"

His face brightened a little as he walked away from the tent.


	25. Unexpected Developments

The next day, Ooo's forces lined up their catapult units at the outskirts of the Fire Kingdom. The bombardment commenced and soon the city wall was taking heavy fire.

"Report," Flame Princess said to one of her troops.

"The bombardment seems to be going according to plan with no interruptions. At this rate, we should be able to breach the outer wall in 4 months."

She was shocked, "4 months?! (sigh) Oh yeah, that's right. I ordered the wall to be constructed several miles wide to stall an invasion. I never would have suspected we would be the ones on the receiving end. Very well, proceed as planned."

"Yes, my liege. We're right on schedule," the artillery commander left.

FP inhaled deeply and thought to herself, "There's got to be a faster way into the city. Dang it, Finn! What would you do?"

Several hours later, Ooo's main forces were huddled in groups sitting down together. They passed the time by playing cards, sharing stories, and sometimes practicing their marksmanship skills with salvaged enemy helmets.

"So uh, how long do we have to wait to get our land back," one knight anxiously asked.

"According to our artillery units, they said around 4 months, give or take," another replied.

"Dang, really?"

"Yeah, and that's if this whole thing goes smoothly without any distractions."

"Anyone wondering why the enemy hasn't returned fire?"

"They're probably waiting us out. I just have this gut feeling that it's going to be a freakin' bloodbath once we make it to the city."

"Oh yeah? Then we better make sure it's the enemy's in that case."

"Darn straight."

The men raised their mugs and fists in the air.

"(sigh) It doesn't make me feel that much better playing the waiting game. Why can't we we just fight now?"

Suddenly, liberation troops were scrambling around the camp. Then, an officer announced, "Attention all units, we have a large enemy presence approaching the perimeter. Report to your battle stations immediately!"

The troopers glanced at the soldier who made the last remark. Then of them said, "Looks like it's your lucky day. Maybe you should wish for the lottery too while your at it."

* * *

Horns blared throughout the base as hundreds of thousands of Phoenix knights suddenly emerged from the city wall. Then, they headed straight towards the liberation forces in the open in what seemed like a reckless tactic.

"Catapults, open fire," Flame Princess ordered.

A great portion of enemies were quickly eliminated, but the main force continued their advance. Moments later, the Phoenix knights clashed with the liberation force like a tremendous ocean wave. The landscape was once again filled with the sounds of chaos. Men were shouting from both sides, some cursed at each other, and others threw their weapons down and used their fists to beat down their enemies. The battle was especially personal for the Fire Kingdom loyalists since it involved fighting their own people. Families were divided during combat as brothers fought against each other, sons fought against their own fathers, and uncles fought against their own nephews. It was tragic for most of them since they had conflicting beliefs about the best interests of their homeland.

On the other hand, Ooo's liberation troops who were non fire elementals continued to fight without any internal struggles against the Phoenix Brigade. However, some of the troops like from the Muscle and Jungle Kingdoms had better combat experience than the Wildberry and Emerald Kingdoms and were able to survive longer. Despite lacking such an important aspect, they were able to compensate with the strength of sheer numbers.

The main heroes of Ooo were able to maintain the tide of battle as they repelled countless waves of enemies. But just when they thought the battle would come to an end, another wave of enemy infantry joined the assault.

"They just keep on coming," Jake said breathlessly.

"Hang in there, Jake. Everyone, take an energy supplement!" Bubblegum handed her friends all of the essential substance.

"Thanks, Prubs."

"No problem, now get ready!"

Moments later, Ooo's forces clashed against the next wave of enemy reinforcements. With Flame Princess and the rest of her friends restored from a fresh supply of energy, they were able to survive the next attack with ease. But just when it seemed like the enemy would give out, Ooo's artillery units were being destroyed from a chain reaction of explosions.

Surprised at this, Bubblegum radioed her men, "Guys report, what's going on?"

One of the crew members replied, "We've got enemy calvary approaching from the west. We're trying to stop them, but nothing's working! Ahh-"

The rest of the transmission went static.

The pink monarch bowed her head momentarily then radioed the remaining artillery units, "All fire support teams pull back. I repeat pull back."

"What's going on? I thought we were winning," Marceline asked.

"Emphasis on 'were'. It seems like Flame King wants to cripple us until we have no more resources left to fight," Bubblegum replied.

"That's not going to happen," Flame Princess said with a determined expression. "Ok, our first priority is to protect the catapults. If we lose too many of them, we won't have enough support to breach the walls in time and we will be forced to withdraw back into the Grasslands."

* * *

Ramirez and his squad members of the Crimson Gauntlet rode on a pack of fire wolves as they destroyed each catapult efficiently in succession. During the last assault, they charged alongside their comrades and used them as cover. Once they reached the enemy's blind spot, they used their alchemy to enhance their lances and skidded them across each catapult structure. The end result would be a spontaneous combustion and not a single squad member was either injured or killed from the whole event. It wasn't surprising for Ramirez or his men since they've done this before, not to mention that they rode on the fastest wolves in the kingdom.

As they approached the last catapult for the day, Ramirez motioned his men to stand back and cover him. Once he reached the last artillery structure, he skidded his lance across the surface in one swift motion. He turned his back moments later and raised his weapon victoriously as the trebuchet exploded behind him.

"Well, done Ramirez. The enemy is withdrawing. Soon, Ooo's forces will have nothing left to defend themselves and this world will be ours for the taking. Now, take your team and report back to the palace," Flame King said through the communicator.

The leader nodded and motioned his squad to follow.

* * *

The battle came to a close as the liberators retreated. Once everyone safely returned to base, Flame Princess and her friends went straight towards the command post tent.

"Flame Princess, I bring you good news and bad news," a general said.

"What's the bad news," she said wearily.

"We have lost a substantial portion of our artillery. As a result, we won't be able to breach that wall for at least 8 months. Casualty reports are roughly estimated around 200,000."

She drooped her head in depression, "What about the good news?"

"We'll be receiving additional reinforcements from the Candy Kingdom, including artillery units within 2 weeks. That means we can still retake the city in 4 months."

FP sighed, "Well, that's good I suppose. Anything else?"

The general nodded, "Yes, my liege. The prisoner we've detained has stabilized and regained consciousness. We have tried to interrogate him without using torture by your command, but he has made it clear that he will only talk if he speaks with you."

She immediately lifted her head with renewed energy, "Thank you, general. I will be on my way. Keep me posted if anything happens later."

The general bowed.

Quickly, the fire monarch approached the interrogation tent. There were 4 guards stationed at the front entrance and another 4 stationed inside each corner. The guards outside immediately stepped aside once they saw their ruler.

Flame Princess walked inside and sat on the chair opposite to the prisoner. She noticed that he was bent over in front of the table, taking a nap. Once she took her seat, the prisoner jolted awake, looking around frantically.

"Take it easy," FP said. "You have my word that you won't be harmed. The guards have told me you would only talk if you saw me. If you tell us what we need, I'll be sure to not press charges for your rebellious act."

The prisoner's breathing slowed and he took a few breaths. Then he looked back at the fire elemental and said, "I feel like I can barely breathe with this helmet on. If you can help me remove it first, I'll be able to explain everything."

Suddenly, the guards inside became tense and stood beside their ruler, "My liege, he could be trying to escape or be plotting an assassination attempt!"

FP eased her men with a calm gesture, "Very well, if it makes you feel better, then I order you to remove his helmet."

"Yes, my liege."

She sternly looked back at the prisoner, "Be warned though, I do not tolerate liars in my presence. Even without the complete honesty rule, I expect you to be truthful at this exact moment, understand?"

He gave a firm nod.

One of the guards approached the prisoner and struggled to remove the helmet, "This thing's been jammed a little, hold on." A few seconds later, the obstructed hat was finally pried loose. As it was pulled away completely, Flame Princess got a good look at the man's face. She noticed he had short blond hair with peachy colored skin. He was clearly not a fire elemental and from that instant, FP's heart stopped and her eyes widened, "It can't be..."


	26. Changing of the Guard

A while ago, Flame Princess was physically and mentally exhausted. She was still stricken with grief from the events of the evacuation, but continued to power through. It was difficult for her to move on as her thoughts constantly tormented her in her sleep. Everyday, she recalled the last moments she shared with her lost love. Everyday, she thought to herself about the many possibilities she could have done if stayed behind with her true love: **Finn**.

Now, here he was apparently dressed in a Phoenix Brigade uniform with his wrists handcuffed. It took Flame Princess and her guards a long minute to process this unexpected discovery.

Finally, Finn foisted a coy smile, "Heh... Hi FP, sorry I'm late."

The fire monarch rubbed her eyes momentarily. Then she approached him and felt his face lightly with her fingertips. Next, she stared deeply into his blue eyes. It was undeniable, this young human sitting before her was indeed her one and only.

Finn stared back into her gaze, "You're a sight for sore eyes, FP."

Seconds later, she slapped him across the cheek.

He expressed a look of shock, "Wha-, FP what did I (humph)!"

She smashed her lips against her love and held him tight. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she deepened the kiss with tears of joy. Moments later, Finn closed his eyes as he let his body relax and returned the kiss. The guards around the united couple looked away in embarrassment yanking their own collars.

Flame Princess broke for air but maintained her grip on Finn, "Idiot! Everyone's been worried sick because of you. Where in the Night-O-Sphere have you been?" She crashed her lips with his for the second time.

Finn chuckled, "It's a long story, Flame. But, can you get these cuffs off me please?"

She blushed, "Oh, sorry! Give me a sec." FP vaporized the restraints instantly, not bothering to use the key. After Finn was free, he properly returned the hug with his fiery girlfriend by wrapping his arms around her lower back.

"Can you take me to see Jake and the others," Finn asked.

FP wiped her eyes, "(sniff) Yeah, of course, Finn. They'll be happy to meet you too. Please follow me."

As they left the tent, the two were holding hands, fingers intertwined. As they walked through the base, all of the soldiers nearby stopped their activities with expressions of genuine surprise. Finn the human was clearly alive and he was not a hallucination. Slowly, everyone followed the couple as the two regrouped with Jake and the others.

"Finn! You're alive," Jake exclaimed as he gave him a big hug.

"I'll be, the weenie didn't buy it," Marceline said as she flew towards him.

The entire base was filled with an uplifting atmosphere as Finn was dog piled from all of his best friends. After a while, they gave him some space and began asking questions.

Finn laughed as he motioned everyone to calm down, "Ok, ok! I'll start from the beginning alright? I'll do my best to explain in an orderly, condensed fashion."

His friends complied and eagerly awaited his story.

"So here it goes: It all started back at the bridge during the evacuation. As you remember, it was just Anthony, Benji, Hartsock, and myself. We were about to make it home-free when we reached the halfway point until this guy named Ramirez showed up." He frowned, "Unfortunately, Anthony and Hartsock didn't make it. Anyway, I fought against Ramirez toe to toe. He put up a good fight, but before we got the chance to finish, the bridge was collapsing from his own artillery unit. I saw him teleport to safety into a flash of flames to the other side, while I made a break for it."

He looked down, "I was too late. The bridge split in front of me before I could escape. At the time, I thought it was over for me. My life flashed before my eyes and I thought I would never see all of you again."

His friends all looked down simultaneously.

Finn lifted his head and continued, "But somehow, I survived and learned a couple things." He looked over to Flame Princess, "Do you remember when I told you I was fire resistant after my adventure from the Night-O-Sphere?"

She nodded in realization, "Of course, the lava below you wouldn't melt your body. But... that fall was at least several hundred feet. I didn't think anyone could survive that!"

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, in a way, I thought my immunity to fire was only strong enough to a certain extent. I never thought it would be able to withstand lava directly. And ...uh I guess you could say I'm stronger than I look." He shrugged then chuckled, "Now I know for sure I can swim in lava like the ocean. I guess the only thing left to test out is to see if I can walk directly into the sun."

Everyone laughed at the absurdity of the prospect.

"Anyway," Finn continued. "Sometime later, I found myself washed up on shore. There were these nomads who just so happened to be traveling nearby. They were good folks as they gave me food, clothing, and shelter. But then the Phoenix Brigade conducted a raid shortly after my rescue. I managed to stop them, but I knew they would get suspicious if they realized one of their patrols never returned. So, as a result, I went undercover as the sole survivor of the team."

His friends kept quiet as they listened intently.

"For 2 weeks, I have been gathering information from the Phoenix Brigade. I spent most of my time learning the layouts of the kingdom's defenses and learning more about their strategies. Once I gathered enough, I planned on meeting with all of you at one of the outposts. I couldn't call you guys ahead of time because they were constantly monitoring their radio frequency. If I tried to take that chance, Flame King would amp up security from the moment he discovers a spy within his ranks, and all the information I have would be useless."

Jake asked, "Wait a second, if you've been alive this whole time. Why didn't you call us or let us know before then?"

Finn answered, "I may be fire-proof, but sadly my phone isn't. All I had at the time was my silver sword and the clothes on my back." Then he looked at his right arm, "And of course, my grass sword. I guess it's fused with my DNA somehow so it never disintegrated from the lava. I'm sorry bro."

"(sigh) That's fine. All that matters now is you're here," Jake finalized.

"Ok," Finn clasped his hands together. "Now that we're all on the same page, how are we doing with our resources?"

Bubblegum looked down, "Not good, Finn. We've lost a great deal of our artillery back from that last fight. Some of our men on the front reported that a cavalier unit was responsible."

Finn narrowed his eyes, "There's only one team I know that is capable of performing such a feat: the **Crimson Gauntlet**. They are an elite task force led by none other than yours truly, Ramirez. One of their specialties is that they like to use deception by dressing in ordinary uniforms. This is to make the enemy, which is us, to underestimate them. What this also does is that it inspires the men into believing that the average soldier can do extraordinary things. Therefore, each and every Phoenix knight will be tenacious in battle. If we take out Ramirez and his squad, we will be able to deal a crushing blow to their morale and the Phoenix Brigade will crumble from the inside out."

Marceline threw her hands in the air, "Well, that's just great! Flame King has his own 'Delta Force' that could single-handedly win the war without our help. How are we supposed to take them down if can't see them coming?"

"Just as Flame King has his own personal task force, we must also have the same," Finn replied.

"But, aren't we the ones who make up our own version," Betty asked as she gestured to all of their friends.

"No," Finn said. "We need to continue and focus support with the main infantry. If we go through all the trouble just to look for them, they'll already cut down our troops before we even realize it. It is imperative that we assist our troopers or else we'll never have the energy to make it to the city and palace."

"So, what now," Jake asked. "We can't just ignore them."

"I have plan, but first I have some questions. Bubblegum, how long will it take for reinforcements to arrive?"

PB answered, "About 2 weeks."

"Good, and can you also call Rattleballs to visit for about 4 weeks?"

"I can do that, Finn. But, where are you going with this?"

Finn smiled, "He's going to help us train a select group of soldiers who will be forged into the team we need to win this war."

"But, wouldn't Flame King try to attack us before we could get the chance to train anyone?"

"Nope, from what I've learned, Flame King will follow standard procedure and only send in his troops if we try to bombard the city wall again. He plans on waiting us out until we've run dry of supplies and withdraw from the outskirts. And even though you said our reinforcements will arrive in 2 weeks, we need the extra 2 weeks so that our team can be properly conditioned in an efficient matter. The training will be extremely rigorous, but those who pass will be chiseled like diamonds," Finn gave a reassuring smile.

Bubblegum nodded, "Ok, Finn. I'll contact Rattleballs. I just hope your information isn't outdated for everyone's sake."

* * *

A few hours later, Rattleballs arrived at the liberation base indiscreetly. He was still wanted from the Candy Kingdom by being branded as a dangerous threat. Despite this, the master swordsman continued to live his life protecting the said kingdom in secrecy.

"Finn, Bubblegum, it's good to see you again. What can I do for you," Rattleballs asked.

"Nice to meet you again, RB," Finn said bowing as a sign of respect. "We need your help to train a group of soldiers to fend off the Crimson Gauntlet."

"Yes, I've heard of them. They are indeed a force to be reckoned with. I will train your men so that they can unleash their full potential in combat. Have you already chosen your candidates?"

Finn nodded, "Yes, master."

"Have you also told them about how demanding this training would be. This is not something for the faint of the heart."

"They are aware, RB."

"Very well, Finn. I shall start training first thing in the morning. You are also my best student, so perhaps you can participate and assist them with their techniques. You might even refine your skills in doing so."

"I'll show them the ropes, Rattleballs. Thank you."

The robot guardian left. Then, Bubblegum said to Finn, "Do you think this will work?"

"If I can handle it, then I'm sure they can as well. All we need to do is have faith in them."

"I think I will have a better chance at calculating probabilities than depend on such a notion," she said skeptically.

Finn sighed, "Just trust me on this one, ok PB? Everything will work out for the best."

The next day, Rattleballs, Finn, and the selected knights begun their training session. Just as the robot guardian stated, the regime was indeed demanding. The session was divided into 3 exercises: physical training, meditation, and sword technique. Each day, the knights trained from 6 in the morning to 9 in the evening. They woke up with sore muscles every time with aching knuckles. The only free time they had was when they ate, slept, and relieved themselves.

As the final training day was coming to a close, Benji was being evaluated by his fellow knights in practice. Just like the others, he managed to endure the ordeal from physical training and meditation. However, he continued to struggle with the last sword technique: the Shadow Thrust.

He threw his arms down in exasperation, "Arrgh! It's no use! I can do everything else except this lousy move!"

Finn walked up beside him, "I know how you're feeling. When I look at you, I feel like I'm watching a reflection of my past self. The Shadow Thrust requires 2 things: form and control. You have done a great job achieving the proper stance, but you need to balance your heart and mind."

"I'm trying Finn, I really am. I have so anger and torment in me that I just can't concentrate," Benji said as he looked down.

"When I was in your position, I struggled to perform the Shadow Thrust too because I was also conflicted with my emotions. For a long time, I gave up on it and decided to practice on the basics. But eventually, I knew that I couldn't just leave my problems unresolved." He placed a hand on Ben's shoulder, "You must learn to let go. Only then will you be able to achieve balance in your heart, mind, and soul."

He nodded, "Ok... I will try." The young knight readied his sword as he looked at the practice dummy.

"Remember, calm your mind and breathe in slow. Let the pain of your brother's loss fade away."

Benji closed his eyes as he tried to overcome his internal struggle. He squeezed his eyes even tighter as the memories of loss swirled within his thoughts. But after a while, he allowed the pain to slowly leave his body like a passing storm. Then, he took several deep breaths. Once he opened his eyes, he zipped past the target and discovered it split seconds later.

Everyone cheered and applauded the young knight's accomplishment. "You did it," Finn said. "You actually did it!"

Ben's eyes widened in realization, "I can't believe it! Thanks, Finn. Oh, and I almost forgot. I'm sorry about knocking you out earlier." He said sheepishly at the last part.

"Ah, you couldn't have known. Besides, all I've done was offer advice, but it was you who pulled through in the end." The two hugged and patted each other's backs. "Go now. Your training is over. Take as much R&amp;R as you can because tomorrow we've got a war to finish."

He saluted, "Yes, sir!" Then, he ran back to his tent feeling giddy from his accomplishment.

"Do you think they'll be ready," Rattleballs asked Finn as he approached his side.

"I believe so," Finn reassured. "Sure they could use some more work, but they've managed to get the just of it. Thank you for coming, master." Both of them bowed to each other.

"I must go, the Candy Kingdom must be protected. Guide these men well, Finn." He departed swiftly into the night.

As Finn waved goodbye to his teacher, Flame Princess approached him, "Well, it looks like you finally have your team."

"Yup, and tomorrow we'll cripple the heart of the Phoenix Brigade."

She nodded, "So, do you have a name for them?"

He thought for a few moments then smiled, "I've done some social studies based on my people who lived before the Mushroom War that I know exactly what to call them." Finn paused then continued, "They are the first to fight, to restore order to the Fire Kingdom, and to usher in a new era of peace. They are...the **Fiery Crusaders**."


	27. Turning Point

"Ok, everyone. Get into position," Finn ordered.

Ooo's artillery rolled towards the Fire Kingdom wall until they were in range.

The blonde hero looked over to his best friends beside him, "Are you guys all ready?"

Flame Princess spoke up first, "We are, Finn. Just say the word."

"So, we just do the same thing like last time? Yeah, I'm down for that," Jake said.

"You are the best hero we can count on. Where ever you go, we will follow," Marceline said as Simon and Betty nodded in agreement.

"We've covered the plan countless times. I guess all we have to do now is put it into action," Bubblegum said.

"We're ready on your go," Benji said with a determined expression as the Fiery Crusaders stood behind him.

Finn smiled at his company. From that moment, he believed that destiny was in their favor. He turned his attention to all the ground forces who stared back with confident expressions. Then, he looked over to wall defending the city of the Fire Kingdom, raised his right hand, and finally threw it down to commence the attack.

Seconds later, the trebuchets began to open fire and concentrate on targeting one section of the defensive structure. Ooo's infantry prepped their weapons for battle as they watched the wall sustain heavy fire once more. Then, horns blared throughout the occupied kingdom and a large wave of Phoenix knights were quickly deployed into the battlefield.

"This is it," one officer said. "Archers at the ready. Aim... FIRE!"

Hundreds of thousands of arrows hit their targets as the Phoenix knights recklessly charged into the open. But as the enemy force drew closer, the liberation archers instinctively lined up behind the swordsman. Close quarters combat was inevitable. No matter how many lives they claimed, the Phoenix Brigade had sheer numbers to continue the assault.

As the fight continued, Marceline, the Vampire Queen, alternated between her giant bat form and normal form slaying dozens of Phoenix knights. However, the vampire woman had to be cautious since the Phoenix archers tried to overwhelm her with a volley of garlic-tipped arrows. Acting fast, she occasionally used her powers of invisibility to fly away to safety.

Jake was fighting by himself in the field as he used his giant paws to pummel the enemy like he did back in the Slime and Breakfast Kingdoms. The Phoenix knights didn't know if the magical canine had any known weaknesses so they just relied on strength in numbers. Unfortunately for them, Jake just simply swiped them away high into the air as their helmets were left behind.

Simon and Betty were fighting alongside each other using their magic powers. While Simon relied on the ice crown's powers with only ranged attacks, Betty used her double-bladed sword to protect him whenever they would be engaged in close quarters combat. So, far they were able to dispatch their enemies with ease.

The royalties from the Fire and Candy Kingdoms fought together side by side. Flame Princess used her flame sword, while Bubblegum used a bow staff. They covered each other's backs as they took down enemies from each other's blind spots. Once again, the knights were easily dealt with.

Wave upon wave, the Phoenix Brigade dispatched additional troops into the field. Soon, enemy artillery began rolling out of the city walls and began to return fire at the liberation forces. In addition, heavily armored golems joined the fight to overwhelm Finn and his allies.

"It seems like the Phoenix Brigade wants to end this war today as well," Finn thought to himself. Then he radioed his forces and said, "Keep it up, everyone. Flame King will soon dispatch the Crimson Gauntlet in a desperate effort to turn the tide of battle. Prepare yourself!"

The rest of the battle seemed to continue normally for Finn and the others. Suddenly, a battle horn was blown audibly across the field. As the city gates opened again, another wave of enemy infantry advanced with a small cavalier unit leading the charge.

Finn took a closer look through his binoculars and noticed they were approaching faster than anticipated. He also noticed the leader of the calvary also had a pair of purple eyes instead of the usual red eyes the fire elementals shared.

"That's **him**," Finn thought to himself. He pulled out his communicator and said, "All units, be advised, we have the Crimson Gauntlet approaching our position. Stand your ground, but do not engage. I repeat, do not engage!" Then he switched channels and said, "Benji, you and the FC's are up!"

"Copy, that. We're on the move!"

As the transmission ended, Finn gave out a distinct whistle in the battlefield and summoned Jake 2, "Come on, buddy! There's no time to lose."

* * *

Ramirez felt irritated during the 4 week ceasefire. He wanted Flame King to give the order to strike the enemy base directly with just his team alone. Unfortunately for him, Flame King ordered the warrior to stand down with the intention of making the enemy withdraw or ask for surrender. He tried to release his aggression by destroying a lot of practice dummies with his powers, but it wasn't enough. Stationary targets gave Ramirez the impression that it was too easy for him. He knew he would feel true satisfaction course through his veins if he fought the real enemy.

Now, here he was leading the charge with the opportunity to unleash his power. He would finally get the chance to satisfy his bloodlust after waiting behind the wall too long. This time, he chose to make himself known to his enemies as he and his squad were wearing their proper uniforms that signified their elite status. The silent warrior thought to himself that it was time to bring an effective end to the war, and he wanted to do it by striking fear and intimidation to his enemies.

As the Crimson Gauntlet advanced to the closest artillery structure, Ramirez charged his lance with his alchemy. He thought to himself the same outcome would happen like before: he and his squad would destroy a good portion, force them into retreat, and then close in for kill. However, his advance was stalled when he noticed a cavalier unit obstructing his path. Ramirez motioned his team to slow down as he observed his new enemies. He noticed they were wearing crimson plated armor adorned with silver trimmings around the edges. On each of their chest plates was a small insignia that had a small white crescent shield. The insignia had red intricate initials that read, "FC" which were arranged diagonally from the top left to the bottom right.

Ramirez nodded his head in acknowledgement to them, intrigued that they were trying to imitate his squad. He realized to himself that Ooo's forces spent their ceasefire training their own elite force. Then, he mentally shrugged to himself that it wouldn't make a difference. As he finished his observation, he took a long look at the leader of the cavalier. Unlike the others, this one was wearing a black cape. From that moment, Ramirez decided to target him first and raised his lance again with the intent to kill.

The Fiery Crusaders raised their own lances as they ran towards the Crimson Gauntlet. As they clashed against each other, 4 squad members from both sides were lost instantly. The remaining knights who survived the joust immediately dismounted their fire hounds and began to face each other with sword fighting.

Ramirez was shocked from the fact that these new contenders were formidable opponents. He gave himself a mental reminder that he would not underestimate them ever again. Underneath his helmet, he briefly expressed a solemn look over the loss of his men. Then, his face changed into a fierce expression towards the rival's leader and dashed at him leaving a trail of purple flames behind.

The FC leader dived out of the way with a combat roll as Ramirez missed his strike. As the FC recovered, he used his flame powers to enhance his speed and leaped into the air to deliver a powerful sword smash. Acting fast, Ramirez used his own flame powers and leaped into air to counter the fatal blow. The sound of metal clanged audibly across the field as the two duelists landed opposite of each other with their backs turned.

Ramirez looked at his chest plate and noticed he was sliced across the body downward diagonally from the top-right. The cut wasn't too deep for him since most of his armor took the hit. However, the Crimson leader was genuinely surprised that his opponent managed to wound him in the first place. Infuriated with humiliation, Ramirez withdrew his sword and dashed at his rival with incredible speed and delivered a powerful right hook across the head.

The FC leader was too late to react as his body stumbled backwards. He bent down for a few seconds to recover from the pain. As he stood back up straight, he noticed his helmet was knocked away from that last attack. The leader's features were revealed, showing peach colored skin with his short blond hair flowing in the wind. "Now you know who you're fighting," Finn said in a low voice.

From that moment, Ramirez was stunned, he could have sworn his adversary was undeniably dead, but somehow this human survived and was standing right before him. He had so many speculations as to how Finn survived, but in the end Ramirez decided to shrug it off and simply accept the fact that he would have his rematch.

Earlier before the battle, Finn learned the basics of pyro kinesis with the help from his friends including Flame Princess, Betty, Marceline, and Benji. Each one taught him to hone different techniques for offensive and defensive situations. Once Finn gained a general command with his new attributes, he used them to enhance his overall strength and agility. Although Finn was able to keep in pace with Ramirez from his last showdown, he was not truly able to match his physical prowess until today. Had the last battle been left uninterrupted, Finn could have probably lost.

The two duelists charged at each other again with their swords drawn. Once they were in range, they rapidly slashed at each other in an effort to tire the other out. Then, Ramirez broke out of the exchange and bent forward on leg with the other extended to perform a vicious 360 degree horizontal slash. Finn countered this by somersaulting into the air and raised his sword for a vertical strike. As he landed, Ramirez raised his blade with both hands sideways to cushion the impact. The end result was that he stumbled backwards a little. Then, he shrugged off the pain and charged his energy to deliver the same sword uppercut slash that he did from the bridge. Instead of blocking the strike, Finn quickly withdrew his sword, side-stepped to the left, bent down on one knee, charged his own energy, and then delivered a flaming uppercut to the stomach, chest wound, and finally the chin.

The Crimson Gauntlet leader flew into the air and landed backwards as he experienced unbelievable pain and complete shock. This was definitely not the same fighter he fought before. Bewildered by this new development, Ramirez slowly got up, clutching his side and used his powers to teleport a short distance. Finn watched as he rode back on his wolf again and retreated towards the palace.

As Ramirez left the scene, the remaining squad members under his command were finally defeated from Benji and the other crusaders. Both teams started with 15 members from the beginning, but now there were only 8 crusaders left including Finn. Other than that, the tide of battle remained in Ooo's favor as the Phoenix knights were scrambling in mass confusion. It turned out they lost a great deal of their morale when they witnessed their best soldier and his team get defeated firsthand. As a result, the liberation troops broke through enemy lines and began to pursue the men retreating into the kingdom wall. It was now or never, Finn rallied the rest of his friends moments later and led the offensive towards the city.

And so, the battle marked beginning of the end for the Phoenix Brigade.


	28. Downfall

"The enemy is weakening, drive them back," Finn exclaimed.

He and his friends quickly approached the gates of the Fire Kingdom as their enemies retreated further into the city. During the mass hysteria, the Phoenix Brigade made a futile effort to keep Ooo's liberation forces at bay. Sadly, without the support and inspiration of the Crimson Gauntlet, the Phoenix Brigade failed to contain the enemy from breaching the perimeter defenses. As a result, they quickly abandoned their posts with expressions of fear and despair.

"The city wall's been overrun! All units retreat," ordered a Phoenix officer.

Most of the remaining defenders gathered together in downtown, setting up last minute defenses. They pulled out dining tables, couches, and any other kind of furniture they could use as makeshift barricades to stall the liberators. Fire golems also assisted the setup by using their brute strength to lift pallets of weapons and ammunition. In addition, the blunt majority of the artillery units were stationed as a last ditch effort to push the enemy back.

As Finn and his friends took over one of the stations controlling the city gates, he motioned them to regroup.

"Ok, fall in everybody," Finn ordered. The station offered a good vantage point of the city including the capital. "It's not over yet. The Phoenix knights may not be able to fight the same, but there's still a bunch of them to handle." Then, he looked down, "We're going to lose a lot of good men if we just fight our way through. Do any of you guys have suggestions?"

Flame Princess lifted her hand, "There is actually a secret underground passageway that Cinnamon Bun and I know in the event if the Fire Kingdom palace was ever under siege. It's been constructed recently since my father's second escape from prison."

Finn's face brightened, "That's great FP! Where can we find it?"

She frowned, "It's at the cathedral, located downtown... where the majority of my father's army resides."

He jerked his head away, "Dang it! (sigh) We're going to lose people anyway no matter what we do."

Bubblegum placed a hand on his shoulder, "Our soldiers know the risks, Finn. They are willing to do whatever it takes to restore peace for the next generation through any means necessary. After all..."

"Responsibility demands sacrifice," Finn nodded. "(sigh) Ok, we can still pull off a swift victory when we accomplish two things: we replace the Phoenix flag atop of the capital with our own and we stop Flame King." He looked over to FP, "How long will it take to reach the palace with the express route?"

"About 10-15 minutes," She answered. "If we are to fight our way through the main route, it'll take us hours before we reach the palace."

Finn nodded at this new set of information, "I see. Well, at least we can minimize casualties to some degree. Too many people have suffered enough bloodshed as it is. Let's go."

The main task force advanced with the infantry as they fought their way building by building. The local stores and market places that were once filled with an abundance of food and supplies were now empty due to the war. Homes and residential areas were used as makeshift bunkers for the Phoenix archers. Overall, almost every building in the kingdom was used for the war effort. Even the cathedral itself was used as a garrison for the defenders especially for snipers.

"Sir, I've got enemy movement approaching from the south," reported a Phoenix scout.

"Alright, everyone get into position!"

The guards defending the front entrance were quickly mowed down from Finn and his allies. As the landmark was being cleared out, Ooo's liberation forces were outside fighting the main infantry.

"The building's clear," Benji announced.

"Great work," Finn said. Then he looked over to Flame Princess, "Where's the entrance to the secret passageway?"

"Follow me, it's underneath the monastery," she replied.

They wasted no time at all in reaching the secret entrance. Once they were there, Flame Princess ordered all of her artillery units to secure the church so that friendly ground troops could also use the same route to reach the palace.

"Reinforcements will be right behind us as we retake the capital," FP said. "Time is of the essence, so let's move!"

* * *

Finn and the others reached the capital in record time. Once they were at the exit, they stopped to rest for a brief moment.

"Ok, everyone. Take an energy supplement," Bubblegum said as she gave them vitamins. "Hopefully, from this point on, this will be the last one we'll ever need."

"Yes," Finn nodded with a determined expression. "Make sure you guys have everything ready because once we start, we're not stopping for anything."

"We're ready," Benji said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Very well, on my signal... GO!" Finn kicked the door open and began slashing his sword on the first guard he saw.

The security detail was completely caught in an element of surprise.

"Contact! The palace has been compromised! I repeat, the-" A sickening slash was heard seconds later and the guard collapsed.

At the throne room, a Phoenix knight approached his leader in distress on his hands and knees, "My liege, we are under attack!"

Flame King, enraged by this unexpected outcome, looked down gritting his teeth, tightened his fists, and then lifted his head and shouted, "IDIOTS! THEY SHALL PAY FOR THIS INSOLENCE!" His flames subsided moments later after his outburst and then said, "Ramirez, get down over there and stop them. This is your only chance to redeem yourself, don't fail me again."

His second in command nodded in compliance and proceeded to make a quick exit out of the throne room.

The Fiery Crusaders fended off the remaining guards as more approached from the courtyard. "You guys go on ahead, we'll draw their attention while you get to the throne room," one of them said. As the FC's dispatched the next wave of reinforcements, Finn and the others continued to head through the main lobby of the palace. They plowed their way through the defenders as they approached closer to the throne room.

They fought through several hallways and cleared out most of the rooms that led to Flame King's position. As the task force arrived at the final chamber, Finn noticed Ramirez was standing in the center alongside 50 Phoenix knights.

"Flame Princess," Finn said. "When the fighting starts, head straight for the throne room. The others and I will cover you."

"But Finn, aren't you going to help me take down my father," FP asked.

He shook his head, "We already are, but it is you who must ultimately defeat him. It always has been. You've proven to be the strongest and most courageous leader this kingdom has ever had. I know you'll beat him because I'll be right with you in here and here." He gestured at the room and then at his love's heart.

She smiled, "Thanks, Finn. I love you." The two shared a quick kiss before they parted.

Moments later, Ramirez motioned his guards to charge as he stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. As the brawl started, he ignored Flame Princess rushing past him and kept his menacing gaze focused on his archenemy. Since Finn's friends only dealt with ordinary troops, they managed to defeat them easily and then backed away for the two duelists.

"It's all you, bro," Jake said. "We'll hold off any more guards that'll come this way."

"Good luck, Finn," Betty said.

Nothing else was said after that. Soon, Finn's allies began to fight again when more Phoenix knights appeared.

The showdown for Finn and Ramirez remained uninterrupted. When the blonde hero started his fight against him for the third time, he noticed that his rival was completely healed from his previous injuries.

"He's probably used his alchemy to heal himself," Finn thought.

His sword collided with Ramirez's as the two started with a series of basic slashes. Both of them were fighting conservatively until the former leader of the Crimson Gauntlet decided to charge his energy and began to engage Finn with a rapid flurry of combo attacks. Luckily for Finn, he was able to match his speed thanks to his flame abilities once again.

Ramirez, frustrated that all of his strikes were blocked and deflected, went into a crouching stance, jumped high into the air twirling counterclockwise, and then used his momentum to deliver a powerful sword smash. But before he could connect the hit, Finn quickly evaded by leaping sideways into a barrel roll.

The human noticed that his enemy was slowly tiring as a result. Then, he realized that Ramirez was trying to bring him down quickly by utilizing his full potential from the beginning. Finn decided to use this to advantage by merely conserving his endurance. Every now and then he would be able to wound his foe as he recklessly left a few openings in his attacks.

Suddenly, Finn's rival began to breathe heavily as he fought with his injuries. It was now becoming a losing battle for him. He flared his body overall to heal himself several times during the duel. Although his physical body was restored on the surface, Ramirez's powers began to strain him as he discovered that he was unable to raise his sword in defense. For the first time in his military career, he was completely helpless as he struggled to maintain his balance.

Taking the chance, Finn went on the aggression and began slashing at the chest plate repeatedly. As Ramirez began to sustain severe wounds, he eventually fell to his knees with a look of anguish. Finn stopped his attack momentarily as he met his gaze. Then, Ramirez slowly closed his eyes and firmly nodded to allow Finn to deal the fatal blow. In that instant, he made a unanimous decision to be given a warrior's death rather than live in failure. Finn hesitated for a moment, but ultimately respected his decision as he decapitated him with the Shadow Thrust. From then on, the legendary soldier of the Fire Kingdom was no more.

Finn sheathed his sword as his duel ended. Moments later, he received an incoming transmission, "Finn, this is Benji. The enemies are on their heels! We're en route to the roof of the building to switch the flags, over."

"Copy that, Benji. Great work." Finn took a deep breath of relief as he was pleased to know the enemy was faltering and that the war was close to ending. But before he and his friends could celebrate, they went inside the throne room to check on Flame Princess. As they entered, Finn noticed that Flame King was already lying on his back, propped on his right elbow. His daughter had defeated him with ease, no longer bound from any internal struggles like she had back from the second coup.

"You lost, father," Flame Princess said with finality as she pointed her sword at him. "This is the end of the line."

Flame King raised his free hand in surrender, "No more, I yield! You wouldn't actually kill your own flesh and blood now, would you?"

FP seethed, "How dare you?! You... of all people would say such a thing. You left me to die in the wilderness all because you were worried about losing your stupid crown. I loved you! It was never my life-long goal to usurp your throne, but you never understood that! In the end, it was your paranoia that became your own undoing."

"But we're evil by nature, daughter. Surely you would have taken my place like you are now," FK replied with a broken smile.

FP retorted, "You actually think I wanted this position from the very beginning?! I was just a stinkin' baby for Grod's sake! Being a ruler has been one of the most stressful decisions I have ever made. I just wanted to live a happy, normal life like any other family."

Moments later, she calmed herself, "But, I suppose I should thank you in a way. If things were different, I probably could have never experienced the same joy, happiness, and... love that I do now." Her cheeks blushed slightly at the last part.

FK spat, "The human?! Bah, he is too weak and unfit to rule our proud civilization!"

"He is a strong and more capable leader than you'll ever be!"

The former ruler shook his head in defiance, "No... I won't allow this. I would rather die than live to see a sub-species govern our people." Seconds later, he mustered all of his energy into his free hand and fired a plasma blast straight for Finn.

FP's heart skipped from that moment. She thought she had everything under control until her father performed one last trick up his sleeve. Fortunately, Finn reacted on reflex and jumped out of the way thanks to his new flame powers. As the blast missed him, it struck the lever operating the giant glass lantern, which caused the structure itself to plummet below an unfortunate Flame King. Hundreds of glass shards scattered in the air as everyone shielded themselves.

"There's probably something ironic about this, but I'm too weary to care right now," FP thought to herself. Then she brushed her armor with her hands, "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm good, Flame. I think the others are too," Finn answered.

"We are," their friends said one after another.

FP sighed, "It's over... the war is finally over." She walked over to her love and embraced him, "We made it."

Finn returned the hug with a tired smile, "We sure did. I'm proud of you."


	29. Restoration

**Chapter theme:** Pompeii by Bastille

* * *

Ooo's liberation forces won the war as the flag of the Phoenix Brigade toppled from palace rooftop. Moments later, the majority of the Phoenix knights automatically dropped their weapons and surrendered. As for the others, some of them decided to either fight to the death or retreat further into unknown distant lands never to be seen again.

At the palace, Finn and Flame Princess walked together towards the balcony overlooking the kingdom. Ooo's liberation forces were assembled in front of the capital where Flame Princess delivered her speech.

"People of Ooo, rejoice! The war is finally over. Your dedication and support has helped put an end to the terror of the Phoenix Brigade."

The liberation soldiers cheered in an uproar.

FP continued, "Let us never forget the men and women who gave their lives to restore peace upon this land. Our lives are greatly indebted to them. Their sacrifice and valiant efforts will be forever remembered in the archives of the Fire Kingdom and beyond."

She paused as she bowed her head. Moments later, she continued, "This war has proven to be costly to all of our people. We have may have endured through the trials and tribulations this conflict had to offer, but we have emerged victorious. It will take time to recover from such a catastrophe, but you have my word that if we work together to rebuild and raise the next generation, we will recover and achieve a new level of prosperity!"

The crowd cheered once again, twirling miniature flags of their own kingdoms that have participated in the war.

Hours later, Ooo's combined forces began the Restoration Project. It was an act proposed by Flame Princess and approved by Princess Bubblegum to have all involved kingdoms from the war work together to reconstruct their own civilizations. Since only the Breakfast, Slime, and Fire Kingdoms were the only ones that were directly affected from the Phoenix Brigade's destruction, progress was quickly achieved within 18 months. If the war lasted longer, additional kingdoms could have been devastated which could have extended world recovery by at least half a decade.

* * *

As Finn and Flame Princess oversaw the reconstruction from the main balcony of the Fire Kingdom palace, Finn stretched his arms out.

"Well, it truly is over Flame. Even though this conflict lasted for at least a year, I feel as though the whole thing lasted a lifetime."

She nodded, "That makes two of us. I'm so glad that Bubblegum and I are on better terms now. We probably could have been crippled into poverty and economic ruin if it weren't for her support. Matter of fact, we might not have been having this conversation right now and my father could have taken over and burnt all of Ooo with him."

Finn hugged her side, "You don't need to worry about that anymore. Though, I'm sorry about your dad."

She frowned and shook her head, "Don't stress about it, he made his choice and died for what he believed in."

Finn frowned as well, "Still, a part of me thought he would at least have a hint of good in him. I really thought he would change somehow."

"He didn't have any regrets or remorse before his last moments. He stayed evil to the bitter end."

The two remained silent for a few moments until Finn changed the subject, "Anyway, let's get out of here, Flame. Go for a walk to my place and have a change of scenery, you know?"

"But, Finn I need to make sure my people are in order," FP replied.

"We've worked with the construction teams long enough, and CB and the crusaders are here keeping watch of the place. Besides, with Ramirez gone, there won't be anyone as influential to rally another uprising," Finn persuaded.

She sighed, "You're right, I keep worrying too much. I'm still shaken up with the fact that my people suffered the cost of war twice in such a short span. This whole time after the conflict has put me on edge."

Finn nodded as they started to walk together out of the palace, "I feel the same too, Flame. I get all these nightmares and flashbacks about everything's that happened recently. Although..." He squeezed her hand firmly, "I have you to comfort me."

FP smiled warmly and squeezed back, "You bring me peace to my heart and mind too. I guess both of us have already figured out how to cope: by taking strength from each other."

Finn chuckled, "I remember. Come along, we'll be back here soon."

As the two left from the main entrance of the capital, they rode on Jake 2 to fly towards their destination. The trip to the Grasslands was easy-going as Finn and Flame Princess felt a gentle breeze in the wind.

"Remember," Finn said to Jake 2. "Just land outside of the house, please?"

The fire hound barked happily.

Flame Princess giggled, "Ah, so you remembered this time."

Finn replied, "Yeah, tell me about it. I almost forgot actually until I saw the tree fort coming closer in view. Anyway, just wait here. I'm just going to grab some food to set up a small picnic nearby."

"Ok," she cutely shrugged her shoulders.

"You're so adorable when you do that, Flame. I'll be right back," Finn said as he gave her a quick kiss.

She blushed from the sudden affection and watched him walk inside the house.

As Finn entered his humble abode, he quickly ran to his bedroom dresser to retrieve a small obsidian colored box underneath the first drawer. He chuckled to himself that he wanted to surprise his love. Today, he was finally planning to propose to Flame Princess. Once he checked the inside of the jewelry box, he ran to the kitchen to fix a couple deli sandwiches and grabbed a picnic basket on the way out.

"I'm back," Finn said with an excited smile.

Flame Princess chuckled, "You seem to be happy over food."

"Oh, you know. We haven't had anything exciting to eat since the war and the Restoration Project. All we had back then were the MRE's (meals ready to eat) and they were just boring," he said offhandedly.

She nodded, "True, true. Those things were lousy, but at least they were practical."

Finn mounted back on Jake 2, "We'll take our break over at one of the hillsides over there. They offer a great view of the sunset and the best part is it's at the same direction towards the Fire Kingdom so we can get back to save time."

"Sounds great, Finn."

The couple ate their meals in silence as they enjoyed the serene atmosphere the Grasslands provided. Once they finished, Flame Princess noticed Finn was acting distant with his emotions.

"Finn, is something on your mind," she asked with concern.

He was shifting uncomfortably as he wrung his wrists, "...Yeah, it's just that (sigh). Give me a moment."

FP nodded as she gradually showed a worrisome expression.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, then finally continued, "Flame Princess, when I met you for the first time in my life, I felt like you captured my heart. I didn't realize back then I would do everything I could to be with you from that very instant. I've made a lot of mistakes, have struggled, and have fallen short, but somehow I managed to prevail and work things out. Ever since we got back together, I've seen you act more cheerful during your rule at the throne. You would always smile more often and be enthusiastic every time I stood by you."

FP's expression changed as she was slowly beginning to realize what Finn was saying.

He continued, "With the war and everything else put aside, I have decided with myself to make sure that I can offer you that same joy on a full-time basis." He got on one knee, pulling the jewelry box from his pocket, "Flame Princess of the Fire Kingdom, will you marry me, a humble protector of Ooo?"

The fire monarch's eyes were leaking with joy as she observed the elegant platinum wedding ring presented before her. "Yes! I do, Finn the Human!" She lunged herself towards her soon-to-be husband and kissed him fervently.

A few moments later, they broke for air and Finn rubbed the back of his neck, "Heh, I want to apologize, Flame."

She had a quizzical expression, "For what?"

"I was waaay off when I told you long ago that we would be together 'soon'."

FP was flustered, "You're beating yourself up over that?! (sigh) But, that doesn't matter anymore. We are finally engaged!" She continued to kiss him.

Their faces were brought together for a few moments until FP realized something, "Finn, are you sure this is something that you want?"

He smiled, "More than anything, my love. We've already given each other the run down on how things will be once this kicks off. Speaking of which, how soon do you think we can marry?"

"I'd say about 2 weeks time, I'm too eager to wait a month like Simon and Betty did. I want to see a second throne beside me when I rule my kingdom as soon as possible."

Finn gave a lop-sided grin and trembled a little with excitement from hearing that, "I don't mind at all." Then, he checked his new phone, "Well, we better head back and make the announcements. I have a feeling this will spread like a firestorm and the news media will never live it down."

She giggled, "So be it, I could care less."

He smirked, "You're too excited to care, are you?"

"Of course, you dummy! You just proposed to me!" She playfully slugged him in the arm.

"Fair enough," he said as he rubbed himself. "Come on Jake 2, take us back to the Fire Kingdom."

The fire wolf barked as the engaged couple mounted on him. Moments later, they flew off into the sunset towards their destination.


	30. A New Beginning

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the following songs "All of Me" by John Legend nor "Thinking About You" by Calvin Harris.

* * *

Today was going to be one of the most historic days in Ooo history. Finn the Human and Flame Princess we're finally getting married! The news media was in a frenzy as they broadcasted the event in every tv and radio station. There was no other show or program that was worth watching during this special occasion. Finn's wedding easily became number one in the ratings with Simon's being second.

The arrangements were similar like the Glacier Wedding with some slight differences: Jake would be Finn's best man with Simon behind him, Lady Rainicorn and the pups would cater the banquet, Betty would be Flame Princess's maid of honor, Marceline would still be the lead singer for music entertainment, Benji and the Fiery Crusaders would serve as the security detail, and the Fire Kingdom guards would assist with the actual decor for the wedding.

The ceremony was scheduled to take place at noon over at the Fire Kingdom palace. Millions of visitors crowded the kingdom from the outskirts as far as to the Grasslands. Those who were too far to reach the ceremony or couldn't go because of environmental complications had to settle for watching the event at their own city square on a giant screen.

* * *

At the Fire Kingdom palace, Finn was wearing the same crimson battle armor from the Phoenix War along with his black cape. This time, however he did not wear his helmet because his wedding would immediately lead to another special occasion: his coronation to become king. This was definitely unprecedented because no one in all of the Fire Kingdom would have ever imagined a human to marry one of their own. What was even more shocking for them was that it was the well-famed hero of Ooo who was marrying their very own beloved monarch.

The future flame king grumbled in frustration, "Ugh, I feel really happy that I'm going to marry the love of my life, but geez I'm so darn nervous!" He fidgeted with one of his armor plates as he tried to straightened it. "I mean, it was already enough that I gained popularity among the people as a hero. Now, I'm probably getting even more attention **tenfold** from the fact that I'm becoming a ruler among the Fire Kingdom! I didn't ask for this. I just wanted to get married like any other couple without the whole world making a big deal about it!"

"Are you done," Jake casually asked as he leaned on his chair against the wall.

"No! I mean I had like 2 lousy weeks to prepare for the biggest moment of my life and I thought that would give me plenty of time to truly grasp the whole concept of this gig. Not to mention that..." Suddenly, his teeth were chattering and he shivered more frequently. He thought for a split second it was just his anxiety, but then he looked down and discovered his feet were gradually being frozen.

Finn's face turned into a deep shade of red with an irate expression, "DANGNABBIT, SIMON!"

The former Ice King chuckled hysterically with Jake, "Sorry, I think the crown's influence kinda rubbed off on me."

Finn gave a sinister smile, "Oh, I see. Well then, allow me to fix that... BY ROASTING YOUR BUNS!" He raised both of his hands with fireballs in each of them. Jake ran in between the two with his arms spread out in an effort to keep the peace.

Simon was laughing the whole time as he raised his own hands with ice balls in self-defense. He knew they were all playing a game and that Finn wouldn't actually hurt him.

Just when the three heroes were about to duke it out, Benji knocked on the door, "Finn, guys, it's time. The ceremony's about to start, I suggest you hightail it to the alter before your lady becomes impatient."

Finn powered down his fists as he let out a deep sigh, "Got it, Benji. We'll be right over." As the crusader left, Finn looked back to Simon with a shrewd expression, "Glob-darn you, Mr. Petrikov. Glob-darn you!"

"Don't keep the bride waiting, Finn," he replied with a smug smile.

The groom grunted in frustration, "Oooh, I swear you're asking for it! But, I'll let you live. Only because FP will kill me first if I'm late." He used his alchemy to defrost his feet and then dashed through the hallways. The guards that were in his way immediately cleared a path upon seeing him. After a couple minutes, Finn and his friends arrived at the doors of the main entrance of the throne room.

"You're sure cutting it close, sir," Benji said as he checked his watch.

Finn panted, "Right, right. Status report."

"All sectors are secure, you may go when ready."

"What about Lumpy Space Princess?"

The crusader smiled, "Oh, that? Let's just say she's taking Jake 2 and the others for a walk."

"This is totally not cool at all!," LSP shouted from a distance as she frantically ran from a pack of fire wolves at the kingdom outskirts.

"Don't worry, we got tabs on her in case the canine units get too carried away," the knight reassured.

Finn nodded in acknowledgment. Then, Jake spoke up, "Simon and I will go first, bro. We'll break the ice so that way you wouldn't feel too overwhelmed. Just don't freak out too much okay? You have a beautiful woman waiting for you on the other side."

"Of course, Jake. I'll be right behind you guys in a moment." Finn watched as they walked inside the throne room, only to catch a small glimpse of the place. Then, he took a deep breath, "Well, I guess going through these doors is the only thing left."

"Affirmative, sir."

"And Ben, please just call me Finn. I feel like I'm going to lose my mind if you keep calling me 'sir' constantly."

"Yes, sir," he complied.

Finn face-palmed and sighed, "Ok, moving on." He looked down at the door lever as he mentally prepared himself for the big event. Moments later, he pushed both of the doors wide open and took in his surroundings.

The groom's thoughts were completely blank as he observed the masses participating for his wedding. Everyone in the room diverted their gaze towards him. From that instant, the young man felt like he couldn't recall a time if he was ever born. "So many people," he thought to himself. He was completely lost in his tracks as the music for the wedding commenced. Fortunately, he regained his bearings after meeting his gaze with a certain fire elemental's. He smiled at her and found a new level of confidence as he approached the alter. "Two special occasions in one day. Here we go," Finn thought to himself.

Flame Princess was wearing her traditional royal armor with the exception of her crown. She smiled coyly as she watched the groom approach her. There was so much joy building up inside her, she thought she would burst like a pack of fireworks. Finally, the fire elemental priest nodded to Finn in greeting and then proceeded to initiate the wedding vows.

"Good noon, everyone," the priest began. "We have come here today in the presence of Grod to join in holy matrimony Finn and Flame Princess."

He paused to clear his throat, "Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. In the Art of Marriage: The little things are the big things. It is remembering to say 'I love you' at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is **being** the right partner."

He looked at the groom, "Finn, will you have Flame Princess to be your lawful wedded wife? Will you love her, comfort her, keep her in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, be faithful to her so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

The priest faced the bride, "Flame Princess, will you have Finn to be your lawful wedded husband? Will you love him, comfort him, keep him in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, be faithful to him so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

Moments later, two sets of platinum wedding bands were exchanged between the couple. Each of them had personal engravings of each other's initials to symbolize their ownership. After the exchange, a fire mage approached the stand with two intricate crowns.

Finally, the priest concluded, "By the powers invested in me, I hereby pronounce you two man and wife, and king and queen of our proud people. You may now kiss the bride."

The crowd gave an deafening cry of celebration as the iconic couple embraced each other, capturing each other's lips. Tons of camera flashes went off constantly to preserve the moment indefinitely. The cheering was so loud throughout all of Ooo, one person might have thought it would have shaken the stars.

"Long live the King and Queen!," they all said. Everyone in the room saluted to them in unison.

Finn had a wide grin on his face, "As your new Flame King, I hereby declare a celebration at the ballroom. Come along, everybody!"

The throne room was quickly emptied as the participants rushed to the said destination. Once everyone arrived, the crowd parted in several directions of the area. Some of them lined up for food that Lady Rainicorn and her pups catered, while others ran to the dance floor and moved around. The place had a bustling atmosphere as Marceline strummed her ax bass, playing one of her rock music instrumentals. Most of the royals of Ooo were gathered in a large group congratulating the new couple.

"Congratulations to both of you, Flame King and Queen," Princess Bubblegum said. "I look forward to preserving peace between our two great civilizations along with all the others."

Finn smiled, "Thank you, Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum. You have my assurance along with my Queen that we will rule wisely for the best interests of our people and for everyone else." They shook hands at first and then hugged afterwards. Soon, Jake and all of Finn's close friends gathered in their own group and congratulated the new royals of the Fire Kingdom.

"Well," Jake said. "Like I said, I'm proud of you, brother. You two go on ahead now. I'm sure you guys have been congratulated to death already."

"It's all good, man. This was bound to happen one way or another. Anyway, we'll see you guys later!"

Finn and Flame Queen reached the juice bar as they were left in peace. After a few drinks, Finn whispered to his wife, "I've got a song that I want to sing to you to make this moment special, Flame. I'll be right back."

She smiled, "Alright, Finn." Then she blushed slightly, "I... uh also have a song that I want to sing to you as well, but you can go first."

He nodded, "Really, sounds great!" Then he pecked her lips and walked up on stage.

"What's up, Finn," Marceline asked.

"My wife and I would like to take turns singing two songs. Is that ok, Marcy?"

She shrugged and chuckled, "It's your wedding, Finn. You're in charge of this whole gig. Or should I say, King Finn?"

He chuckled back in response, "You can just stick with Finn, no need to get too formal."

"Ok, suit yourself. The stage is yours and I'll just follow your lead."

"Thanks, Marcy." He went towards the piano and spoke on the microphone, "This one's for you, Flame Queen!" He cracked his knuckles momentarily before striking the first note.

* * *

_What would I do without your smart mouth?_

_Drawing me in, and you kicking me out_

_You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down_

_What's going on in that beautiful mind_

_I'm on your magical mystery ride_

_And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright_

_My head's under water_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, oh_

_How many times do I have to tell you_

_Even when you're crying you're beautiful too_

_The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood_

_You're my downfall, you're my muse_

_My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues_

_I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you_

_My head's under water_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, oh_

_Give me all of you_

_Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts_

_Risking it all, though it's hard_

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you_

_I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, oh_

* * *

Flame Queen had tears of joy as the song finished. As her husband approached her, she commented, "Finn, that was absolutely wonderful! I love you so much!" She gave him a brief searing kiss and then wiped her eyes, "But, now it's my turn to express how I feel about you."

He nodded, "Sure thing, I'll be right here."

Marceline gestured to the fire elemental as she approached the center microphone, "Don't mind me, I'll just follow your lead."

She nodded in acknowledgement and then tapped the microphone a couple times to test it. Afterward, she cleared her throat and then cued the Vampire Queen to start the music.

* * *

_If I told you, that this couldn't get better baby_

_And your heartbeat, it lets me know you feel the same._

_I can hold you, keep you safe until you fall asleep._

_Never worried, cause I can give you what you need._

_Now everything I do, is all for loving you._

_Its not something that we're used to._

_No other way to say, I need you every day._

_And now I'm gonna change my ways._

_And it's a part of you, I never wanna lose._

_I'll do anything you want me to._

_Like any other day, I know I'll find a way-aa-aay._

_And if ever I'm alone you'll say._

_I'll be thinking about you. (x8)_

_In a moment, I know that everything could change._

_And I know that, my life would never be the same._

_You're the only one that's making sense to me._

_When I close my eyes, you're the one, I see._

_There's no other way I could ever be ... Without you babe._

_Now everything I do, is all for loving you._

_Its not something that we're used to._

_No other way to say, I need you everyday._

_And now I'm gonna change my ways._

_And it's a part of you, I never wanna lose._

_I'll do anything you want me to._

_Like any other day, I know I'll find a way-aa-aay._

_And if ever I'm alone you'll say._

_I'll be thinking about you. (x8)_

* * *

The crowd cheered with another deafening uproar as the song ended. Finn ducked his head quickly while covering his ears as a result. Nevertheless, he tried to smile through the pain as he tried to maintain eye contact with Flame Queen. When she finally stepped down and approached him, the two gave each other another hug and kiss.

"That was marvelous, Flame. I had no idea you can sing."

"I didn't think you could sing too or at least like that."

He chuckled, "We continue to surprise to each other, my love."

She blushed slightly, "As long as it's in a good way and not in a tragic, heartbreak kind of way."

He nodded, "Right. Anyway, let's see how we're doing on time... Good grief it's almost 6 in the evening?! We really went at it with all the food and dancing and stuff."

Flame Queen giggled, "And your point is..."

He shrugged, "Ah, you're right. We're both having fun anyway, so no big deal I guess."

They continued to hang out with their friends for at least another hour until Flame Queen gave an audible yawn.

"Someone's tired," Finn said playfully.

"Yeah, aren't you tired as well?"

"I am, it's just that I try not to think about it and keep the others entertained," he said as he stretched his back.

She shook her head smiling, "It's not any different than working too hard. The same thing applies when you're partying as well."

"Hey guys," Jake said. "Lady and the pups and I are going to bounce. The kids are already falling asleep on me so I better get them home while I still can."

"Ok, brother. See you guys later."

As Jake and his family left, Simon and Betty followed suit moments later, "Great party," Simon said. "We're glad that you two finally tied the knot."

"Thank you, although..." Finn smiled mischievously, "It could have been done sooner if **somebody** didn't ice my feet before the wedding!"

Betty was flabbergasted, "He did what?! Ooh, I'm going to have a few words with him when we get back to the Ice Kingdom."

"What? It was just a joke! Everything worked out still, hey!" Simon was being dragged away by the earlobe from his wife. "I'll get you for this Finn," he cried out dramatically.

"My liege," Benji said as he walked up next. "We'll have a second throne ready for you first thing tomorrow morning. Cinnamon Bun and the other FCs will also keep watch of the party while you two retire for tonight."

Finn nodded, "Thank you, Ben. Carry on."

* * *

After they said their goodbyes with the rest of their friends, the married couple finally walked back into their chambers. They gently removed their crowns and placed them on a nearby coffee table and began to change out of their armor. In Flame Queen's opinion, she thought that it was easier to change out of compared to a dress because it was less complicated. Whatever the case, she and Finn changed into more comfortable clothes with plain T-shirts and pairs of shorts.

FQ walked outside at the balcony and made a sweeping motion of the main city, "Everything you see before you is yours to command. You can finally have whatever you want, whenever you want. You're the King, you're in control now."

Finn smiled shyly, "I...uh. Just wow. I didn't go through all of this merely for power, Flame. I did this so I could shoulder the responsibility of a ruler and be close to you."

She smiled tenderly, "I know, I just felt like saying that." Then she walked back inside, towards him until she placed her palms on his chest. "You have no idea how much I've dreamt of this moment."

Her husband was initially surprised but slowly embraced her lower back, "Is that right?"

"Yes," she whispered as she closed her eyes, leaned forward and gently captured his lips. Moments later, Finn followed suit and the two found themselves making out. They gradually released their emotions with light kisses and innocent caresses until Finn noticed something.

He backed away a little but maintained his hold on his fiery wife. His eyes observed her from top to bottom as her body was beginning to glow brighter.

"My heart burns for you, Finn the Human," she breathed, apparently reading his mind.

The blonde hero shivered from hearing his name and continued to caress his wife's curvaceous figure. From that moment, he felt like his instincts were triggered and began kissing her more fervently. The heat they exchanged from each other's bodies quickly intensified.

Flame Queen was in a state of bliss as her lover began to take control. Her body continued to shine brighter from the passionate moment they were both sharing. She inhaled deeply as Finn tenderly kissed the crook of her neck and then trailed back to her lips. Tongues swirled as they wrestled for dominance, and both of them were quickly losing rational thought. Eventually, FQ held her lover around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as their make out session became more intense.

Taking the hint, Finn carried his wife towards the bed. He gently laid her down on her back and hovered over her with his elbows propped on the mattress. He was completely mesmerized by her fiery complexion as he observed her gorgeous face.

Finn lightly brushed aside FQ's tousled hair that obscured one of her eyes. Then he rested his forehead against hers as he stared deeply into her amber gaze, "Flame... are you sure about this?" His tone was husky, one that his wife would never forget.

She combed her fingers through his hair with one hand, closed her eyes halfway and purred, "Make me utterly yours, my King." Her lips were practically grazing his that it just bowled him over.

The last remnants of self-control were cast aside as the couple gave in to their desires for one another. Soon, their breathing and heart rates quickened as they chanted each other's names. It didn't take long for them to reach a whole new level in their relationship as they expressed their love more intimately...

* * *

Sometime later, Finn rested on his back with Flame Queen laying beside him with her left leg draped over his waist. They were covered underneath a thin bed sheet as their natural bodies kept each other warm, not that it was necessary since they were in the Fire Kingdom.

Finn was absentmindedly stroking his wife's lengthy mane as he stared into the distance. Then, his thoughts were broken when FQ spoke in a content voice, "I love you Finn. I'm so happy that we're truly together."

"I love you too, my blazing angel," he said as he kissed the gem on her forehead.

She giggled softly, "I can't wait for tomorrow."

He gave a proud smile, "We have our lives ahead of us, Flame. The future is what we make of it, and it's up to both of us to make it a great one."

And so, the new royals of the Fire Kingdom slept together peacefully through the night. Finn's life as a full-time hero and adventurer may have ended, but his new life as a responsible monarch and a loving husband has just begun.

* * *

The End


	31. Glimpse of the Distant Future

**AN**: Title says it all

* * *

It was a quiet night in the Candy Kingdom. Businesses were closed, traffic was scarce, and the residents slept soundly. The only sources of light that remained in the city were the street posts and the porch lights of people's homes. A swift, whispering wind was heard among the locals as cars would pass by occasionally. Children who stirred in each of their bedrooms would usually fall asleep quickly from the make-shift lullaby along with their families.

At downtown, a lone hooded figure and his fiery canine companion perched themelves on top of one of the tallest buildings near the palace. He stood upright for a few moments to survey the landscape before kneeling near the edge. So far there were no reports of criminal activity. No emergency vehicles were being dispatched, which meant there were no sirens blaring in the distance. Apparently in this one instance, everyone made an internal agreement to rest without any disturbances.

It had felt like hours for the individual when it had actually been minutes in reality. As he checked his phone, he noticed the clock read 3:00 in the morning with only one minute flickering on the screen. The young man closed his eyes and sighed. Despite patrolling the kingdom with Rattleballs voluntarily, the hero felt restless in his thoughts. He opened his eyes again and decided he would stay a little longer just in case there was trouble.

After a while, the wolf lifted its head and sensed a person approaching. The blonde hero, however kept his gaze towards the city streets below and mustered a small smile.

"Evelyn Petrikov," he greeted dramatically in a low voice. "What brings you here at this time of the night?"

"Nothing much, _Billy Mertens_," the newcomer said with a matching tone as she dismounted and folded her flying carpet, then joined him at his side. Her auburn hair was covered from the hooded cloak she wore. "What are you doing out over here?" She took on a look of concern, "It's kinda cold, you know."

He couldn't help but chuckle lightly from that last remark, "Like I'm ever going to freeze to death!" He briefly formed a small flame from one hand effortlessly which caused the young woman to roll her eyes. "I couldn't sleep," he answered in a more serious tone.

She placed her right hand behind the man's shoulder, "Why?"

He shrugged a little while still kneeling, "I don't know. My mind's running at a hundred miles an hour for no reason, so I figured I could go for a late night patrol. Maybe think about life's mysteries while I'm at it."

Evelyn giggled softly, "I guess.. Alright if I join?"

"Sure thing."

The couple stared into the city for a long moment until Billy asked, "How's everyone else doing?"

Evelyn chuckled at the question and said, "Oh, they're fine. I guess both of our parents are holding an unofficial sleepover at the Fire Kingdom palace after that movie marathon."

"Heh, they'll be making quotes in their sleep that's for sure."

"You bet."

They were quiet again as they stared into distant horizon. After a while, Billy said, "My dad told me he used to hang out here a lot."

She tilted her head, intrigued, "Oh?"

"Yeah, he told me about how this spot offers a great view of everything when he worked as a peacekeeper. He said if you tried hard enough, you could catch a glimpse of tree fort at the Grasslands. He also said you could get a better view of the stars since we're right above most of the smog and what not."

"Interesting."

"There was even a backstory as to why he truly hung out here though," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "But I'm not sure if you'd like to know more."

"I've got no other plans to be elsewhere," she said with a reassuring smile. "If it bothers you, however I'll understand."

He returned the smile, "Thanks, I guess I'll go on then. Many years ago, when my dad told me was 'my age', he said would reflect on himself whenever he took a break from work. He said he would always recall the time when the Fire Kingdom went through its first coup."

Billy continued, "My mom lost her powers that day and visited my dad after being apart for a year. She needed his help to reclaim her throne and expected him to keep a mutual relationship. He accepted, but the problem was that he only cared about impressing her rather than focus on the current task. They were captured as a result and in the end, it was Cinnamon Bun who saved the day. My parents never spoke to each other again after that, and it wasn't until 4 years did they meet again in the second coup."

Evelyn could only nod in acknowledgement.

Billy looked down momentarily, "He managed to make a better impression that time but he thought it didn't matter anymore. All he cared about that point was to earn her respect and reach closure."

He frowned, "If there's one thing he knew overall was that he was lucky. There was no guarantee that he would get back together with mom after the first coup. Everyone had doubts, actually. When they were split for such a long time, you would think one or the other would have moved on. Instead, they worked everything out and started over. It amazes me about how all those events had to take place for my very existence. It's nothing short of a miracle that's for sure."

"I feel the same with my case," Evelyn commented. "When my dad was cursed with the crown for a thousand years, there was virtually no hope he would ever get back with mom. But in an unexpected turn of events, they also worked something out. Heh, we sure have interesting backgrounds when you think about it!"

He laughed briefly, "Just what are the odds?! And ever since then, my dad made it a priority to teach me a set of moral standards for myself and with others so I wouldn't stumble like he did. But even with that knowledge, I sometimes worry that I might take it all for granted." He turned and faced her, "That I might take **us** for granted."

She clasped his hands together with hers and eyed him directly, "You're not the kind of person to do that. I know you too well. All I ask is for you be the best at who you are and stay true to yourself. As long as we continue to work out our differences, we'll have a relationship that'll last us now and forever."

Their faces hovered near each other for a brief moment as his amber eyes met her blue ones. They continued to stare at each other endearingly until they both slowly leaned forward, closing the gap in between. Eyes drifted shut as their lips met, and the two kissed with all the passion they could muster deep beneath their hearts.

Both of them smiled contently as they parted and pressed their foreheads together.

"I love you, Ev," Billy said.

"I love you more," she retorted playfully.

"Let's head back and check with the others," he suggested.

"Sure, I doubt they know we've been gone for a while," she said as she straightened her glasses. "It was a long marathon today.. er yesterday (tch) You know what I mean!"

"Nope, I don't," he replied feigning a serious expression. He pulled a face, however when she pouted moments later. "I'm just kidding! Ready to go?"

Evelyn rubbed one arm nervously, "Yeah, mind if I ride along with you? I feel like I'll fall asleep in mid flight on the way there."

He shrugged, "No problem, we wouldn't want that to happen, right Jake 2?"

The wolf barked in agreement.

As the couple mounted, Billy smirked to himself when he felt a pair of arms encircling his stomach. "All set?"

"Much," Evelyn replied warmly as she nuzzled his back.

Nothing else was said after that and the two finished the rest of their trip in silence. Although one day was over, they still had many more in the future to live a life together filled with adventure, responsibility, and above all happiness.

* * *

**AN**: Heh, I didn't think I would ever update this story again aside from the revisions. I can hardly believe it myself. As my life progressively gets busier down the road though, I fear I will never be able to update any of my stories ever again. So, as a backup plan, I have included this bonus chapter whenever the time comes. Until then, I'll do the best I can to finish all my stories. Feel free to share your thoughts about the story and/or chapter in general and thank you for reading!


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